Anyone else constantly curious about amps?

Curious about amps? How could you NOT be? I'm with you!

Why? Because there is no such thing as a speaker on its own. The basic unit is a speaker-amp. Their pairing is about "synergy" which means not just "sufficient power" but "pleasing interaction." 

In my room, I have had:
Class A:

• Pass XA 25
• Pass Aleph

Tube:

• Linear Tube Audio ZOTL Ultralinear+
• Quicksilver Mono 60 tube amps

Solid State:

• Adcom 535L
• Benchmark AHB2
• Hypex-based Class D amp built around Burson OP amp.

And everything has been tried both with a very neutral SS preamp as well as with a tube preamp.

All these amps sound different. And not just better/worse but different. And I've tried many of them with different speakers.

The point is that the investigation of "synergy" is a key part of what I'm interested in, and trying different amplifier-speaker combos is the heart of it. And if you're settled on your speakers, what more could you owe them, and your system, than to try out the right amps until you find what brings out their potential (for you, in your system)?

That's one of the nice things about tube amps.  You can change the tubes out relatively inexpensively and change the amps sound, giving you a new experience each time.

I admit to being a bit curious about Airtight tube amps. Not monoblocks, but integrated. Same for VAC.

@hilde45 I'm glad you mentioned the mentioned the LTA amps as well. Those have been on my radar, and I was lucky enough to hear their gear in two different systems at SWAF. The Areo Dac is very interesting, and something I would strongly consider. The amps sounded good, but it's so hard to judge them not only at a show, but also when they are shown with panel speakers only. Nothing wrong with panel speakers, but they don't really give me a sense of how they might pair with my normal box and driver speakers. Anyway around it though, the LTA Z40+ is also on my radar. 

@jasonbourne71 the weekly reminder from Jason Bourne for all of you dummies that think amps sound different.  Jason have you ever been in a legit treated room with multiple amps with similar distortion curves and tested them?  I'd guess not.  So please allow those who actually have used this gear talk rather than just regurgitate the ASR line of "it all sounds the same", espousing a single small scientific study from the 70s which has been disproven countless times. I assure you that your class D amp with 120+db SINAD will not come close to my Pass Labs XA30.8 in realism or imaging regardless of how it measures.  If you still feel the need to post this on every amp discussion though, do you.  It's a free country.  Just know that those of us with high end systems are rolling our eyes.

OP, yes I have this disease.  When you have a fully treated room with high end gear, the difference between amps is not subtle.  I've tested over a dozen amps in this configuration.  No amp sounds just like another.  There's a reason why Nelson Pass uses measurements AND listening tests to determine these things!  Whether everyone can hear these differences is another discussion entirely