Ava amps vs Monarchy amps ?

I'm using a pair of SM-70 Pro's that I like, but I don't recommend them for single-ended use...balanced yes, but not single-ended...something in the way the circuitry is set up during single-ended makes them 'overload' (DC only) a bit, less transparent that way. Otherwise they are quite good, but no one will likely accuse them of having the best soundstage traits of an SET (single-ended triode) or a good class D (if you can settle on whatever *that* is), but still quite good. Nice dynamic range, nice tone and harmonics (a tad warmish, but ok)...outstanding timbre. Haven't heard AVA, but I know they have their fans, too.

I should add, these, too, are very musical, forgiving amps. Around $400 ea, used.

Well I also have Monarchy SM70 Pro's and I agree with all that the posters above say, except the non-recommendation for running them single ended. I wouldn't know about balanced operation, but they are just wonderful running single ended in my system.

I have to say I didn't like the result running the amps as bridged monoblocks, though I really wanted to. Hard to explain, but they sounded rather 2 dimensional and midrangy each time I pushed the volume as monoblocks.

Vertically bi-amped though is a completely separate animal (running both amps in stereo mode) and they sound very good, and even quite transparent partnered with my tube preamp.
Highly recommended!

Thank you all of you ! Very helpful !