Best power amp below US $ 20.000,00 ??

I'm looking for an amp to drive my Avalon Eidolon Visions. The source is AA Capitole mk II SE run direct. The AA is a temporary solution - I plan to replace it with a full function pre and a better source components when I'm done with the amp.

Right now I’m running the Nagra PMA monobloks (the piramids) which are on a dealer’s loan. The amps sound quite fine for the price – better than expected for shure (especially after reading the trashing KK review in HiFi News) but do have some graynes, which IMO is inheritent in almost all solid state designs.

The nagra VPA (with KR 845 tubes option) that I tried before PMAs, were much better in that regard, the sound was much sweeter and smoother, but still didn’t gave me the harmonic completness, harmonic “rightness” I’m looking for. Nagra VPA is definately Teejay’s No.1 flavor, i.e. pristine clarity, fine sharp details, speed, very extended top/bottom frequencies and great PRAT.

The BAT 150se monobloks I had before VPAs, sounded a little bit better in that regard, but still didn’t have the SET magic in the midrange. They were also a little bit "heavy-footed" and lacked ultimate microdynamics & resolution. The other downside of BATs is that they produce LOTS of heat (much, much more than the VPAs) and that may be a problem in summer months.

The amp I liked best so far was a SET amp based on a single GM70 triode - 30 watts of pure triode magic. That amp had everything I was looking for - fine textures, microdynamics, holographic soundstaging, harmonic lushness, natural timbres. And surprisingly – on the contrary to the common knowledge – they have absolutely NO PROBLEMS driving 87dB efficient (3,6 Ohm minimum) Avalons ! The bass was very good indeed and they could go louder than I normally listen in my 14 x 19 foot dedicated room. Unfortunately - this amp was made by a local DIYer and I'm not quite ready for this.

I still want something of the shelf.

Next week I’m gonna try some local ICE based amp and a Nuforce 9s. The next amps that are waiting “in line” are Krell 400 & 700cx, some Classe monos, Plinius SA102, Pathos In-Power, Pass X-600.5, Electrocompaniet AW-400, Mac MC-501. It is gonna take some time though, since I ALWAYS borrow the amps for at least a week for home audition.

Pls note that I live outside the US and some amps are simply not available here (in Europe).

Boa2 -> I'm aware of deHavilland amp. The only thing that is putting me off that amp is the fact, that the DIY amp I mentioned was MUCH more sofisticated than deHavilland offering: hand wound transformers, all NOS paper-in-oil caps, all tube rectification plus the GM70 was driven by 300B triode. deHavilland looks like toy next to it, although a much better made one !

Sbank -> I haven't tried any OTL amp so far (the only one I could possibly borrow is little Graff GM-20 OTL - way too underpowered for Eidolons, I guess) but I heard many times that all OTL designs are best suited for 8 Ohm impedance speakers, or even higher. The Eidolons Vision drop to 3,6 Ohm.

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Today I brought home the Plinius SA 102 amp. I know that it is much cheaper than other offerings we are discussing here, but my dealer didn't have the more expensive Plinius models on hand, so I decided to listen to SA 102 first, just to see If I like the Plinius "house sound". If I do, I may investigate the more expensive models. If not - well, I will move on.

Stehno -> I read that review. That is why I want to listen to NuForce amps as well, even though they cost pennies next to other amps we are discussing here. I should have them after X-mas - I was hoping to get them this week, but unfortunately, me dealer told me the pair he has is not fully broken in yet :-(

Philefreak -> H2O does not have distribution in Europe, at least AFAIK.

Ramy -> thanks for sugesting Gryphon Antileon. I think I can borrow one.

Mikelavigne -> I read all darTZeel reviews. I'm also watching all dart threads here on AgoN with great interest. So far, I have only one chance to listen to the dart combo - during The HiFi Show in London this September. I have to say, I liked the sound a lot. I'm going to CES this year too, and dart is on of the must audition products, together with Lamm, CAT and deHavilland.

The thing that is worryng me though, is Branimir comment on the Dart in one of the threads. His friend, who is also using Eidolons Vision, is already regreting the change from ARC Reference to Dart, which to his ears is not that great at all. There is a possibility, that his dart is not fully broken in though.

Rushton -> Atma MA-3 is around 28k new, which is a over my budget. I could probably strech it a little bit more if only Atmas weren't so ugly ! I think my wife would divorce me If I got those home. j/k. Plus, them must generate an awful lot of heat, which maz be an issue in the summer months (I have A/C in my room, but I tend to switch it off when listening).

Artizen65 -> I have heard the all kW setup (CDT/DAC/pre/power amp) during the last HiFi Show and it was one of the worst sounds of the show. I have never/ever heard SF Guarnieris that were hooked up sounding so plain bad. The sound was thin, bright and hard.
Besides, to me, owning an expensive MF amp is a little bit like having an expensive Seiko watch - deosn't really make sense.

In the meantime, I have had a chance to evaluate the Plinius SA102 this past weekend. SA102 sounds on the warm side, it definately is on the other end of the scale than the Digital Switching Amp brigade. I like that tonal balance though, it surely mates well with Avalons (and my personal taste), but to me the amp was just not transparent enough, I could not see deep enough into the recording. It also exhibited some grayness that IMO is typical to almost all ss amps, although to be fair I have to say that it was better than more expensive Nagra PMA in this regard, not to mention the cheaper BelCanto.

Anyway - I like it enough to be eagier to try the more expensive Plinius models. Unfortunately, I also got informed today, that my distributor doesn't have the SA Reference on hand, so I will be not able to audition it. If anyone have had any expirience with that amp, in context of SA102 and other HQ amps, pls share.

Today I got a local DSA amp based on ICEpower 250ASP module with build in SMPS power supply (the same that is used in Rowland 201, I belive) - I'm curious how it will compare to BelCanto.

Just to finish what I have started - the ICEpower amp was quite a surprise. It has wiped the floor with the Bel Canto eVo 4 - anther DSA amp, but based on Tripath technology - at 1/2 of cost. No wonder Bel Canto switched to ICEpower technology - it sounds sooo much better.

Overall the amp is still too dry in the midrange for my taste, so I decided to skip the whole ICEpower technology, including the 500ASP and 1000ASP modules which are said to sound very similar to 250ASP in overall character.

I liked the Krell 300cx that came after the ICEpower amps much better - much more natural sounding. I would never have guessed that a Krell amp can cound so good. For the price, I think it was the most "complete" sounding amp I have tried. The little Krell encouraged me to try their bigger stuff which is said to be much better - namely the 700cx amp. I was to try it after CES, but unfortunately Krell discontinued the whole cx line and introduced the new evo line. My dealer cannot gave me the exact date when he will start getting the new amps.

I have also had Classe CAM-400 monos at home for over a week. Those two were also very impressive - smooth and neutral - but I still thought I could find something better.

In the end, based on all of the positive comments, I have decided to buy ... Lamm M1.2 Reference monos. No way to audition - none in stock locally - this is truly a blind faith purchase. Hope I will not regret the purchase.