Amplifier suggestions please

@jumper75 I have the single AHB2 and I think it is the best amp I have ever owned because it is so quiet. Do the 30 day trial since you have nothing to lose (if you are in the USA). This amp does NOT require break-in contrary to what reviewers are saying. I have owned this amp 2 times and the second time I got it the amp sounded just like my old (sold) amp which had 100’s of hours on it.

Only Class D I would look at today are Purifi. The March Audio I linked to is in your price range for 2 monos. On the ASR web site they have a strong presence and the new amps are highly rated. The NAD M28 is also another Purifi amp but cost a little more and the specs are not as good as expected from the Purifi prototypes. However, NAD and Purifi have a very close relationship.

In my situation I need a lot of power in 2 Ohms. My single stereo amp is actually rated at that level for something like 292 watts. The mono are not rated at the level and the manual recommends using the monos on 6 and 8 Ohms loads. So I emailed the amp designer, who also posts on A’gon, and also the head of sales.

It seems that the mono AHB2 amps cannot run a long time at 2 Ohms to collect the specs. I think it is 30 minutes on a continuous 2 Ohm load that is needed to publish the specs. The designer and sales guy told me that is not a realistic real world situation and that the mono would work great for me. A musician that owns the same speakers as me posted that the single stereo AHB2 was more than enough power and sounded somehat better than the 2 monos. This is with the speaker that goes below 4 Ohms. In most situations the 2 monos are being described as much better. A lot of posts all over on this.

I will do the 30 day trial of the AHB2 see for myself. I have no concern about speaker damage since the amps have great shutdown control system.

So for my situation I am saying I do not know yet if 2 monos are what I will end up with yet. I will definitely try it first because the AHB2 is such an incredible amp and I think the only ones that are like it are the new Purifi based amps. I also think most other speakers would be a better match than my speakers, but I will still try to make it work because I like the AHB2 sound so much.

In a few more months Purifi will release much more powerful modules that will have tons of power at 2 Ohms. I will try that if I do not go with 2 AHB2’s. The other amp that I am considering, but is not in your criteria, is the $6K CODA #8 Class AB amp. It has the perfect specs for my application and is supposed to sound incredible. However, the Coda is described like sounding similar to other class AB amps to me and nothing like the AHB2. The Puriif amps is described as being very much like the AHB2, very quiet.

Have you considered the Gold Note PA-10? Class A/B design with GaN transistors. Available as a stereo amplifier or switchable to monoblocks (and the monos are within your budget) that output tons of power. Compact, Italian style in your choice of black, silver, or gold (champagne) finishes.

Here's a review on darko.audio. Here's a review in Positive Feedback.

Cheers,
Colin

Heads up that I'm a Gold Note dealer.

@ yyzsantabarbara Thanks for your additional info, much appreciated.  The AHB2 seems to be quite a unique animal.  I'm looking at how it differs from a more traditional AB amp in that price range, such as the Rotel RB-1590 suggested above that I'm really liking.  The AHB2 is very lightweight (SMPS vs large transformer as discussed above), lower on rated power, and I'm wondering about the adjustable gain - obviously low gain setting is ideal but is that intended more for the Benchmark DAC's or would its low gain setting work well with my system.   

It seems like I need to wrap my head a little more around the AHB2 much like I would going with a Purifi amp.  The RB-1590 (and the A21+ / AT6002) I don't really have questions or doubts from a design standpoint.  

Thanks for everybody's suggestions so far, they've been great.  I feel my answer is in this thread somewhere - so much to consider!

Hi,

have you considered PS Audio M700 monoblocks. they are within your range  and you could lower the cost with a trade in of your current amps.  Plus you get a 30 day trial.

your speakers were designed by Dennis Murphy, who designed the crossovers on my Salk Song3 BeATs which pair wonderfully with the M700s.   

Plus the Phil 3s are require some power as they are rated at  85 dB (db/2.83v/1M) and are essentially a 4ohm load.  The M700s  are rated  at 350w/700w @ 8/4 ohm.  

@jumper75  The Benchmark web site has a menu section called APPLICATION NOTES. You will find all the technical details there.

As I mentioned previously the 30 day trial of the AHB2 is a no lose proposition.