Amps which are Great, but either Unknown or Underpriced

Wells Audio Inamorata

Electrocompaniet

Crown K2 fanless pro amp out of production;
Sunfire amps out of production
Alesis RA series studio power amps are in ridiculously low price range, but extremely clean and precise ranging power of upto 150WPC also compact in size and dual mono design.
Counterpoint is another great brand out of production.

After reading yet another article about Primaluna amps in a major audio mag, I remain surprised that Jolida rarely gets reviewed (the FX 10 made it in someplace in recent years…but not much else) in audio mags. I assume it's due to a lack of advertising, but it remains a mystery. Primaluna amps are around 30 to 50% more expensive, and although well made and a relative bargain, these should lead buyers to Jolida which are VERY well made and sound amazing. The Primaluna amp recently reviewed in Stereophile costs maybe 500 bucks more than a higher powered Jolida that can use various output tubes and has an XLR input…biasing is done by turning a small screw from time to time. Well worth the effort, and based on my 4 plus years of experience with a factory modded 502P these things sound and perform as well as amps costing multiples of what Jolida asks. 

Usher Audio R1.5

Exposure - not well known in the US, and excellent sounding.

@adeep42  ,
do you understand the title of this thread? You must have millions to throw to consider Ayre underpriced!

Find an old Hafler D-220, or one of the pro versions of the 220, clean it up and install John Hillig's mods from Musical Design. Sounds great, will probably outlive you, and is fun to do.

Clayton Audio for Class A solid state
SPEC for Class D, if you can get away with a little less power
Send your McCormack to SMc audio for signature upgrades

I didn't se any one mention Ayre.

I sell Jolida gear. one thing i hear again and again from customers no matter the amp- no listener fatigue. each customer has been very happy. for the price it would be hard to find anything better, and the sound is always smooth, and clear, and natural. the latest Fusion models are excellent pieces. the Fusion 3502S and Fusion 3502P are the top selling amps these days, and the 801 model sells well also. The Fusion DAC transport is amazingly clear, and smooth. It uses a Phillips transport. Factory upgrades are available for all their amps. Always make sure you are buying real Jolida gear coming from Maryland. www.jolida.com. ever interested in a good deal look me up. Bob Anderson - see FB Anderson Audio Gallery

Nuprime (many of the principals used to be Nuforce).  Excellent sounding, small, and the newest ones Ref 20 and the MCH-K38 are at or near the state of the art in sound.  They have several different amps that allow you to pick the one best suited to the sound you want.  Those two amps are both 400 watts per channel at 8 ohms.  Other amps have less but still significant power (over 100 watts/ channel).  The 2 amps mentioned have the best sound of both tubes and solid state.   The price of the MCH-K38 is just under $3000 new.  The used Nuforce amps are selling at very attractive prices.  The less costly Nuprime amps sell new for well under a grand and are still very good sounding amps.

Anthem 225 Integrated Amplifier. 

N

http://hephaestusaudio.com/forge/hma-harpocrates/

I like these. Plenty of solid power for my Ohm 5000 speakers.

I think the H-Cat both amp. and
prramp. are the best kept secret in
audio. 
Going for 6k (the present 10X series
pre. & 11k for the amp ).
You can find them on the used market
for less than one forth the price and 
then have both units upgraded for 
4K. by H-Cat. and be rewarded with
a non fatiguing organic sound.

Other amps. Audio Research Classis
30 and the Lectron JH-50 .

Sunfire amps

I'm surprised to see all the posts mentioning the popular, well known brands which is not what the OP asked in the title of this thread. In fact, after reading the posts here referring to all the same old, same old brands, I feel like I picked up another issue of The Absolute Sound or Stereophile which always seam to cover the same manufacturers over and over.
Anyway, to reply to the title's original question...my vote goes for Clones Audio. I have Funjoe's 25ir and I believe it's phenomenal.

hi ,
does anyone know of lesser known hybrid amps? i done some research but only a handful of names such as Van Alstine, Aesthetix, Union Research, BlueCircle, JE Audio, Monarchy Audio, Moscode, Vincent, Pathos, and Butler audio.... so that's about it ?! And one last great hybrid is from tube distinction (Soulmate)but already defunct. 
btw, please keep chinese brands out of this list. 
Thanks in advance. 
-philip

Dayens Ampino, the little amp that could!

My view is that unless you are a dealer/salesperson trading frequently makes your "budget steal" anything but.  I perfer to buy something quite good and enjoy it, and stop reading audiophile-nervosa publications.

In 1982 I bought a used Threshold Stasis 3 for $1100.
In 2000 I sold it for $800 and bought a used Pass Aleph 3 for $1200.
In 2003 I sold that for $850 and bought a used Pass X-150 for $1200 which I still use daily.
I'm toying with buying a used SIT now, if so, I'll get my money back on the X-150 - which is a superb amp BTW.  The Aleph was just too short on the current.

I was a salesperson at one point with good connections to several dealers (still), and also during these years briefly owned products from: Blue Circle, Classe, Krell, Dynaco VI, Bedini, Hafler, ARC, CJ, and many more which I usually got my money back, or made a few bucks on, never having unseated my current Pass amp. 

So, be sure of your speakers, then source the best bang for the buck amp (probably used) that will handle them, and enjoy the music for years - that's the best way to get a "deal".

Let's talk preamps - I had a used ARC SP-15 for many years which I had for years and got pretty much my money back.  I replaced it with used Pass P and XONO pair about 13 years ago. No need to fuss with that pair either.

Nelson Pass Forte Audio.

Yes the OP asked for less expensive even vague yet people continue to drop some of the biggest names out there. 

Quicksilver Audio running GE 8417's.

Blue Circle has been around for a while, probably not as well recognized but certainly good gear.  Their new integrated amp with selectable tube/solid state input section looks pretty cool.

Does anyone consider Blue Circle amps as an unknown?

The ARAGON 8008 (INDY AUDIO LABS). Not really underpriced, Very unknown, But I love the hell outta mine!!! From its physical styling to its first rate parts count to its high level of performance to its fit & finish the unit just screams GREATNESS. And all for Not??? Its a damn shame that INDY does nothing to promote this thing or any of their products for that matter. The only review to my knowledge, was from The Absolute Sound, and they seemed liked it too??? As for advertising,"NOTTA", I surely hope they don't go "THE WAY OF THE WIND" because of "LACK OF"???

""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!"

+2
I also have a pair of Audio Mirror SET 45 monoblocks with their parallel 6C33C tubes and OPTs (purchased new in 2015). These amps are excellent performers and a phenomenol value. If they were branded as McIntosh, I believe they would sell for 14k to 18k USD, if not more, but they can be had new for around 5k for a pair (with tubes), with a full parts and service warranty.

With my setup, I get the best sound with the Tung Sol 6SU7GTY black glass in the input stage and Sylvania 6SN7GT bottom flashing and triple rivet (late ’51 to early ’53 vintage) in the driver stage...outstanding combined transparency, speed, and overall musicality.

All speakers that I have heard with these Audio Mirror monoblocks and NOS tubes sound great, although the bass can get a bit wooly on some low impedence speakers (4 ohms) when playing hard rock music; however, the bass really pounds with amazing resolution through speakers with high magnetic flux (high speaker damping) and underhung voicecoils (linear resolution), like University 315C-200 speakers...killer combination.

These Audio Mirror monoblocks put my Parasound Halo A21 (a decent SS amp) to shame, plus they are just plain sexy in their mirror-like polished stainless steel finish.

In the great but underpriced category, here’s another vote for the Job 225. It’s a great sounding piece that plays WELL above it’s price.

I will give second nod to Herron. I have the M1A mono amps driving Verity Parsifal speakers from a MSB Analog Dac/UMT V transport source. I have demo'd other amps and nothing even close to the price is as pleasing musically, ( though I do agree with Belles as well and the MB200 almost got the pick ). 

Jungson JA-50/100/200. Liberty Audio B2B-100.

Another shout out for Deja Vu Audio, handmade tube gear that sounds great and is ultra reliable.Great value for money relatively speaking and great people to deal with.

Opera Consonance Cyber 800
EL34 driven monoblocks.  Good looking, good sounding and reasonably priced.  Not well known.  

Reviewed here:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue34/opera_cyber800.htm

Odyssey audio. Grabs the speaker and shakes the most out of it.
The only one I will buy from now on.

My Hafler 9180 has served me well for over 20 years. My Dan D'Agostino designed Point Three satellite/sub system and Thiel CS2's showcase it's qualities. 

Wells Audio-relatively inexpensive and top notch sound. Most musical realistic sound I've heard. 

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.

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. 

Decware Tube Amps incredible sound quality and value.

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.

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....

"... 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.

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).

Electra-print EL-34 SET. 

mapletree ultra 4a se

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!

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.

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