Needed: Honest Advice on high-end amps- either mono or stereo


I'm perplexed by the offering of high end amps. I have heard some really expensive amps- ARC 300m, D'Agostino, Burmeister,  the 1200w Macs- all impressive but....

In your HONEST opinion- are the THAT good? 

For the money (Let's pretend you and I  can afford them- may of us can) are they transformative? Exceptional? WAYYY better than a lesser mortals out there? 

Forget economic proportionality- most of us are wealthy. We can pay to play. My question is: are they EXCEPTIONAL or just moderately better for much more money? 

This is an honest question seeking thoughtful answers..... 

 

 

yesiam_a_pirate

I’ll likely be shot for this, but unless you have power hungry speakers you can get away with a small integrated box of magic that will blow your mind. I just picked up a NAD M10v3 integrated Streamer Amplifier.

100w, super quiet, uncolored sound. and has more features than an old guy will ever figure out without a lot of reading. Got one for $2200 and it’s the best thing since sliced bread, to me. Pair it with a sub and a Bluesound Powernode for rear speakers and it turns into a true Dolby 4.1 Surround system. You don’t need a center channel. Add up to 60 wireless speakers around your property and you’ve got something insane. No need to spend a lot of money today on clean amplification….and you get so many other bells and whistles that you won’t find them all. MM Phono, DAC, Stream and wireless broadcasting….with a badass amplifier.

Ok, I’ll shut up and listen up for critics input. 

@andym23456 

You are correct. You can get away with budget equipment and enjoy the results. But some folks are intrigued and become obsessed and what extraordinary sound. The high end stuff is for them. 

audphile1  The Boulder amp will give you goosebumps with a musical and engaging source components. It sounds incredible in my system fed by a Meitner DAC. Very natural, musically satisfying it reproduces music as natural as it was recorded and gives you a true picture.

Please share. Do you have a link to your system sound? I love to listen a good music. Alex/WTA

@yesiam_a_pirate my suggestion would be to spend as much on your power amp as you do on your speakers, as you do on your subwoofers.

Then the same amount again on your front end

gav