Best Amp for Timbre, Depth and Spatial Resolution?

My current Bel Canto Ref1000m monoblocks are about as good as anything I have heard anywhere in recent years with my OHM and Dynaudio speakers, and come in your price range used, but there are certainly lots of great amps out there.

You just gotta pair up the right amp that floats your boat for the specific speakers and room at hand.

There probably is no single "best". If there is, I do not know what it is and not sure how such a thing could ever be determined even.

I would expect to have to open my wallet up way beyond any norm though in order to truly be able to afford the best of anything, and the cost these days for the "best" audio gear, assuming price is a good indicator, probably comes in right behind the price of the best home or car, or perhaps the undeniable perfect model woman? Like a Kate Upton or equivalent maybe?

Is that what you really want?

The BCs are petite yet smooth and dimensional, refined, powerful and very nice looking. Not unlike a classy world class supermodel/female athlete. So as amps go, I have no qualms settling for that. They were a stretch for me even used, but worth it in the end.

"Wenn you see many smiles you know it is good. "

That is a very good metric!!

Beware of urges to censor, especially on such trivial yet controversial topics as "high end audio". It usually hurts more than helps.

Bo,

Best 3-D imaging setup I have heard by a huge margin was all mbl system in a well set up dealer showroom.

Source was a SOTA modern reference Reel to reel tape.

Phono and CD on same system did not fare as well, though still better than most anything else I have heard in terms of 3-D.

RTR was full bodied like live performers occupying specific locations you could point to in the large showroom area behind speakers.

Phono and CD was similar but thinner less convincing sound in comparison to RTR in both cases.

Totally holographic/3-D

Exact same dealer's gear sounded average at a show.

Showroom optimized for those were key, ie very deep and uniquely shaped and well treated tapered space/area behind speakers.

I have heard many other very good 3-D setups at home and at shows, but that was the best by far. Others are similarly good at best but room size and design and more directional speaker designs are usually the constraint that still keeps the best of the pack together. mbl omni design + large optimized room seemed to be the keys. Few would have a room like that at home unless specifically designed.

"and the colorful personalities in the audiophile world are one thing that makes it a worthwhile hobby"

I've always found the same to be true of the colorful personalities in pro wrestling.

Our music sounds better but I bet we can't "sell" a devastating dropkick....

So here's a question in line with the OPs.

How does one determine teh pecking order for amps alone in regards to timbre, depth and spatial resolution? There is nothing I know of that canbe measured on an amp that would clearly determine this. The speakers, speaker setup and room acoustics are the most important thing it seems to me. SO if one does the speaker thing right, and has the right amp to drive the speakers to their maximum potential, is there anything else that needs to be addressed explicitly?

Just wondering. I'm not so sure there is much more to it than getting the speakers set up well for max performance and using good quality stuff in general upstream to feed it.

I'm hoping it might just be that simple?

BTW, I am not saying all amps sound the same. But an amp alone has no sound. So what specs/measurements on an amp alone can be used to determine a pecking order in regards to timbre, depth, and spatial resolution? I am not sure there are any. But they can be used to determine relative matches to specific speakers. Then you are in business.

So you can assess how any particular amp + speaker combo does in this regard, but I am not sure it can be done for amps alone.

"an amp alone has tonal characteristics"

Maybe if you listen with a large enough sample size of different speakers to determine.

But what is "best" or even better will be determined more by other things I think.

I think its safe to say amp specifications matter but do not tell the whole story.

The TV analogy is a weak one that will not get anyone very far.

Everyone knows audio salespersons are much more forthright than their TV counterparts. They would NEVER do anything to lead a consumer to see things their way. :^)

clever clock....relevant???