Best Solid State Amp For 10k Or Less

I'm pretty darned happy with my Pass Aleph P and mono 2s setup. Great soundstaging, dead quiet, natural midrange, forgiving yet detailed, and ultrareliable; fun-to-use remote, too! Should net out around $5-5.5k used. GREAT synergy between pre and monos. Possibly less bass slam than you might want for high SPL rock with inefficient speakers, but I'm continually thrilled with 88dB/w 3-ways playing lots of acoustic jazz. (Heard Charles Lloyd's latest: Water is Wide?) Good Luck.

Hi John! I'm using Red Dawn throughout: 1m RCA Rotel 855/AlephP, 4.5m XLR between P and 2 monos, and 2.5m revII to Verity Encores. Spectral balance is great, but top octaves "clicky" and gritty, probably due to the Rotel. I was surprised to find that the BelCanto DAC sounded uptilted and "whitish" up top in this system. I decided to return to my Rotel rather than band-aid the BelCanto system with a "warm" IC. Still not sure how to upgrade the front end....suggestions? Local dealer's Rega Planet 2000 MAY be worth a demo--can't get anyone to respond to that thread, however. I know some have characterized the Nordost as wimpy in the bass, but I notice NO difference in bottom slam if I parallel-in some 12 gauge in an A/B test, so in my setup the 13 AWG-equivalent RD revII works fine (it's only 8', afterall). Nonetheless do you think the Red Dawn IC exagerrates treble transients...that "clickiness"?...or is that my Rotel CDP? Sorry to sidetrack the thread...happy holidays to all. Ernie