Power amp for PSB Gold i's

The Gold i's drop below 3 ohms in the midbass region and present a fairly severe phase angle. They need an amp that is comfortable with difficult loads. The Classe CA-150 and Emotiva XPA-2 are both within your budget range. If you can increase your budget by another $200-$300, the Parasound Halo A21 is also within reach.

The Goldi's need a lot of horsepower. I agree with the Classe suggestion of the previous poster, and would add a Marsh A400 and perhaps an Odyssey or old Carver. Depending on your passive preamp, you might actually be better selling it and using the proceeds to purchase a used high-powered integrated amp, such as the Plinius 8200.

Michael

McCormack

So, I should be looking for an amp that delivers 200-300 wpc at 2-4 ohms?

You're looking for an amp that doubles or almost doubles output as the load impedance is halved. The number of watts determines how loud you can listen. 200-300 watts into 4 ohms is not a bad figure.