Amps which are Great, but either Unknown or Underpriced

Unknown can be a result of never having been given a review in the audio mags, or small production, or both.

I am a big fan of the Classe DR3 VHC, but they never had a review, they only made 166 of them (I own 3, one run stereo and two as bridged monos) and they were very expensive at the time ($5K c. 1987.

If you ever get the chance to hear them don't pass it up, and if you see them for sale (a very rare event) consider them. They will drive literally anything (including Apogee Scintillas on 1 ohm setting) and sound almost tube like.)

Downside is that they are very large (too high to fit in regular racks with fixed shelves) and quite heavy (c. 110 lbs each)

Van Alstine...

Musical Design amps by John Hillig - all are musical wonders!

Krell Vanguard delivers music without compromise and can be had for $3600 at Audiophile Liquidaters!!  Equalls some $20K plus seperates I've owned.

Class D Audio SDS 470

Class D sounds grey to me.  Devialet sucks as well as Hegel...Highly regarded by some.

+1 for Monarchy Audio. I have a pair of sm70mkII's that sound beautiful. I believe them to be a huge value.

+1 Line Magnetic 518ia .... Or 219ia if your bank balance and back can manage it.

Though they've gotten several reviews in the last few years, I second Coda. They make really amazing stuff. No fancy bells and whistles--just clean, solid, no-nonsense engineering with terrific parts that work well together. 

I've owned several Coda amps over the years and currently own an S12.5, which drives my Jena Labs speakers very well. Really clean and super-transparent, with a touch of warmth that ties the whole package together. Lightning-fast but not overpowering bass as well. An acquaintance of mine has a 15.5 that powers a pair of Legacys, and that combo is magical too.

They're certainly not bargain basement in price, but for what they offer sonically, they're a fabulous value, IMO.

Several of Coda's principals worked with Nelson Pass at Threshold back in the day. As I understand it, after Threshold's demise, Nelson formed Pass Labs, while the other guys formed Coda. 

Coda maintains a much lower profile than Pass--at least in the press--but they've done a lot of OEM work over the years, including for Innersound, Legacy and Sanders (thus some of the similarity). 

I'd vote for Audio Analogue great sound for not a lot of money.

AirTight ATM1. Can be run as an integrated with 2 inputs and you can use them later with a pre or phono pre. You also can add a second one for monos for driving big or unefficient speakers.
They sound gorgeous. Art Dudley's ref amp. I have pair of ATM 3 for over 20 years and only one trouble fo fix one one amp.

Vincent Audio. Designed in Germany, manufactured in China. I have pr. of SP-998 mono blocks. These compete with or surpass Power Amps costing many times there RRP of Aus.$6k. The fact I picked them up brand new for half that, make them a contender for one of the great bargains in audio history. 300W. into 8ohms. 50W of that Class A. these have the best grip on bass I have ever experienced and will embaress some of the overpriced big names costing truckloads more in musicality.

Havn't heard any of their  other Power Amps, but would like to try one of their Hybrids one day.

I have the SA -T8 Pre-Amp which is sublime and will beat much more expensive pre's. Also have the SA-T1 which is ok in a more budget set up if you pick one up discounted as I did.

Acoustic Imagery Atsah 500, 400 watts, 2K, awesome sound

Okay ... "little known and sounds great:" 

Years ago I bought a Dyna 120 in perfect condition at a garage sale for four dollars. I sent it back to Minnesota to Frank Van Alstine so he could install his circuits. What I got back was a 60 wpc giant killer. It was solid state but if left on for a few hours took on a sweetness all its own. The bass was killer too. Over the years, I've referred many people, especially those on a tight budget to the Van Alstines folks. Good people. Good electronics. Great prices.

Quicksilver mini-mites with 6L6GC tubes and nos 12ax7s kicked my rear end out for a walk! If you don't need to blow your brains out these are hard to beat for anything under $2K!

A note about Vincent…I own a Kavent S-33 preamp that is a re-badged Vincent SA-93…not sure why they needed 2 companies selling the same stuff (Kavent is gone), but in any case it's an amazing balanced dual mono preamp with isolated power supplies on one side of the deep aluminum cladded chassis. Also, I have a good friend with one of those massive Vincent hybrid integrateds and it also is an overbuilt thing that sounds fabulous.

For years I used an Acurus DIA100 with my magnepan 1.4s. This Christmas I moved up to 1.7s and the DIA100 wasn't getting it done. Hit the want ads and bought a second hand Acurus A150. Sounds great and its got real bang for the buck until I can upgrade. Very happy with Acurus products.

I have several McCormack amps modified by Steve McCormack.  It's a great option if you're looking for SOTA performance for a fraction of the cost.

While he used to offer certain mod packages, I think it's totally variable nowadays.  Whatever your budget, preferences and associated equipment...he can make an amp tailored to you.

Another great advantage is that you never have to pay dealer markup again.  Just buy one of his used stock amps for next to nothing and have him modify it.  Then you could have an amp that would retail for $20k+ depending on what options you choose, but you only paid a fraction of that.

Occasionally, you will see a modified version of his amps up for sale, but most people hang on to them.  Your best bet is to find a used DNA.5 on ebay.  These are the cheapest to find and one of their favorite to mods.  It will also drive most any speaker and, if you need more power, just get 2 DNA.5 for monoblock conversion.

If you want to go tubes...I would say that Rogue Audio is probably under-priced and under-appreciated.  David Berning amps would also be on my list for certain applications/systems.

Second Line Magnetic, great amps, ultra reliable built like a German Tank not a Russian one, with a great sound, at a great price..
Also Opera Consonance, real class sound, excellent reliability, and beyond reproach build quality.

Emotive Audio (PA, USA)

After 20 years in the hi end, no component I've heard makes me shake my head in disbelief more than when i see a $1,700 sticker on the Job 225.

I have a Parasound A21 and a Line Magnetic 216 Integrated Tube amp in another system. So I agree with those who have listed these two. Just great products.

Exemplar Audio

+1 on the Job 225.

Neither Hegel or devialet are class D. Hegel integrated are class a/b and devialet is hybrid with first x watts in class a.

Brown Electronic Labs 1001 MKV. Still better today than 99% of all SS amplifers available. 

My Odyssey Audio HT3 (with cap upgrade) is nearly 10 years old.  I have not once in all these years even considered an amp upgrade.  This amp is a giant killer, with detailed, clean sound, never etched or bright, with stunning soundstage width and height.  If it remains as reliable as it has been (one cap failed while in warranty), it will probably be my last amp.

Also, the Arion Class D amps are outstanding, and reasonably priced.  I have heard several models, and had the RS-500 mono blocks in my system.  Wonderful amps.

Pass Labs X150.5

VAC 450 IQs - best I have ever heard.  Incredible mids and highs; bass that needs to be heard to be believed.  All VAC products punch above their weight class - these are no exception.

At their used prices, Convergent Audio Technology (CAT) amps are the greatest stone cold bargains in audio - much better even than their preamps.  You can pay ~$4-7k for amps that will compete with anything made today, regardless of price.

All very good suggestions but must include Decware.com! Very well built,
very fairly priced!

Jeff Rowland 625 S2...it’s relatively new, but I never hear Jeff Rowland being talked about like some of the other brands. It’s simply the best amp that I’ve ever had. It has "soul."

Rogers High Fidelity EHF-100

The current Audio Mirror 6C33C SET monoblocks are a bargain at their price compared to BAT and Lamm models. I am very happy with them.

I like the Anthem integrated 225.

"The current Audio Mirror 6C33C SET monoblocks are a bargain at their price compared to BAT and Lamm models. I am very happy with them."

+1.
I have a pair (45 Watt SETs) and they are terrific!

Some of these replies really surprise me since the OP ask for Unknown or Underpriced.

But there are many good nominations as well.  And one I'll +2 on is Monarchy

LSA (Living Sounds Audio). I had their Signature hybrid integrated which I had upgraded to a Statement. Simply incredible when compared alongside previous amps I've had from ARC, Rogue, Blue Circle, and Rega.

LSA is more known for their affordable speakers, but the Statement went for $11,000 when it came out. You can now find one (not mine!) for about $3K on Agon and they're worth every penny.

Great service and attention to detail; excellent hybrid design.

So - I'd never heard of Van Alstine or Musical Design and thus explored their sites. Anyone have any first-hand experience with either of these designs?

That's what I love about this hobby!

mapletree ultra 4a se

Electra-print EL-34 SET. 

The Line Magnetic stuff is incredible.....I would probably add Leben to this list as well.

(And yes, I'm a dealer for both lines).

"... Van Alstine or Musical Design and thus explored their sites. Anyone have any first-hand experience with either of these designs?"

simao - I had a Van Alstine Ultra 550 power amp driving my EggelstonWorks Fontaines for a while. Very powerful and nice sound. Had grunt when needed, good strong mids and decent top end as well. After swapping out the tubes I realized I wanted more of the sound that tube amps provide so sold it for a pair of all-tube amps. Were I ever to go back to an SS or hybrid I'd consider getting another. Terrific build and service as well.

I'm loving my Classe CA2100... can be bought for $2000 used...  I've owned Adcom, Krell Showcase, McCormack DNA1, Parasound A21, and to me this thing beats them all....

Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP and non-HP Amplifiers  and Integrated Amplifiers (My first experience with Prima Luna products was the Dialogue Premium HP Integrated Amplifier) are awesome.  I recently upgraded from an Audio Research Reference 75 power amp to Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP Mono-block amplifiers connected to an Audio Research 5SE preamp. The trio are magical and have helped me fall in love with recorded music again.  They are powerful, dynamic, detailed and transparent with the ability to recreate a three dimensional soundstage.  They are versatile with the ability to change tubes or listening mode (ultra-linear or triode) to your liking.  I am currently running the Gold Aero KT-88's tubes which are detailed and sweet but have the Tung Sol KT 150's ready to make there appearance on stage.  The word on the street is these tubes are amazing.  More to follow on this configuration.  The Prima Luna Amps truly are media rated class A products and if you love music you will love what these amps can do for your system.

Decware Tube Amps incredible sound quality and value.

Jolida has my vote. I just picked up Jolida's newer integrated amp, the Fusion 3502A (the new aluminum edition), and couldn't be happier. The amp has a real sense of depth to it and vocals sound pretty damn good. I guess I'm becoming a true Jolida fan boy.

I started with the FX-10 with an Arcam Dac for the office, picked up the Jolida 3000B preamp with Consonance monoblocks for home, then later added the Fusion Dac. 

I wanted to simplify my home setup and decided to try the 3502A. It's a sleeper for sure, and is worth every penny. 

Sun audio of japan, and usher audio of taiwan are truly magnificent. PrimaLuna audio (Holland), Doge audio (china) and N.E.W (America) aswell. I find the n.e.w amps have such exceptional sound quality I sold my expensive ones and bought a couple used N.E.W amps to drive my Audio Artistry Grand Beethovens.


They had vacuum tube preamps. The preamp are decent like other good preamps, but the power amps which they had the models, N.E.W a20, a33, and a66 some battery powered. A stands for class A amplifier, they were 20 watts, 30 watts, and 60 watts, they were ofcourse switchable to mono for more power. I compare these amps to cary audio.

I believe these amps have the highest quaity sound for a ridiculously low price.

Take it from an old guy who's been into hifi for his whole life, ghese amps are truly impressive.