amp for Dynaudio Contour 1.1

Your friend will definitely want something with reserve power - preferably something that has at least 100 w/ch into 8 ohms and doubles (or nearly doubles) into 4 ohms. If you give those speakers the right power / current, they'll really sing. While I don't have personal experience with either, I think Wirehead's advice of investigation Musical Fidelity's stuff and/or Bryston is excellent advice - the MF stuff is really good looking on top of being very well reviewed.

I don't think it's the Dynaudio's that are giving your friend the over-brightness, particularly if he was listening to a Parasound driving them. I own a pair of the 1.1's (as well as the 3.0's) and I wouldn't use "bright" as an adjective for them at all. -Kirk

I was going to suggest the Sim Moon, but wasn't sure about the price of that unit. It not only is well reviewed, it's said to mate well with Dynaudios. I think to get it <$3K, you'll have to buy used.

If the Sim I5 is only 60 w/ch, I agree that's not enough. I was thinking that the I5 listed for about $4500 and had more like 150 w/ch, so either I'm thinking of a different model, or I'm just completely off base. Either way, the VAC mentioned about is only about 60 w/ch too, and, again, I agree you want more for the 1.1's.