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Hall of Fame: BIGGEST BADDEST Monster Amps

There have been a lot of posts on:

"tube amps with balls"
"amps to drive my 1 ohm, inefficient speakers"
"amps for rock and roll"
"Levinson, Krell, Bryston, Pass Labs etc"
"sounds more powerful than its rating suggests"
"despite low rating, puts out huge current" etc.

But I somehow find these threads divergent and confusing and still cant seem to short list a new set of monoblocks to biamp (low end) and COMMAND my Magneplanar Tympanis, fill up a large room with EFFORTLESS dynamics and CONTROL the bass with no debates, questions, reservations or tweaky failures.

So let's please hear your thoughts:

What are the all time, hall of fame, MONSTER power amps, where there should be no doubt whatsover about HUGE amounts, of effortlessly dynamic, clean, smooth, audiophile power.

I have to think that for the low end of biamping, this should be a solid state amp, unless someone can really suggest an unusually robust and low maintenance tube amp.

Mark Levinson 20.6?
Pass X-600's?
Bryston 7 B monoblocks?
Parasound monoblocks?

Thank you.
cwlondon
whoaru99
98 posts
 
Cwlondon, perhaps not. But I think often gear that does not have a certain name is usually deemed unworthy by audiophiles.

However, one thing that occurs to me is that reproducing "live" sound in the home is sometimes referred to as a goal. The point is that pretty much any live sound that is amplified is almost certainly amplified by pro audio amps such as Crown; not Levinson, Krell, or Halcro, et al.
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
Whoaru99

You make a reasonable point, but this brings to mind one of the creators of the "high end" industry, Harry Pearson aka HP of the Absolute Sound.

When that magazine had more integrity than it has today, the "absolute sound" was the benchmark for our "goal".

And it was defined not simply as live, but as the sound of live UNAMPLIFIED music in open space.

An update on this thought could easily create a thread of its own, but philosophically, the high end goal has never really prioritized the recreation of the live sound that you might get from stacks of Crown amps, for example.

You might also find it interesting to know that some live, amplified bands, who were well known for masterful production and great sound, actually did use audiophile brands.

Weather Report apparently used stacks of Levinson amps and put on an amazing show, although that was just slightly before my time so others might have more detail.
deshapiro
177 posts
 
One word. Boulder.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Here's one more for you....Audire Otez. A very over looked hand built monster amplifier with 16 pairs of bipolars per channel. Weighing in at 85lbs and pumping 800 wpc into 2 ohms.The company has been around for over 30 years. I've seen these units go for as little as $1200..which is an absolute steal!!! One of the best kept secrets in quality and extreme power.The b&w pictures on the site don't do these amplifiers justice.
dtanclim
69 posts
 
MBL's of course! The MBL 9011 are Mono's with 5000W; dimensions 480 x 320 x 870mm.
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