Best Used Solid State Amp for less than $5000?

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. It really opened my eyes.

Where am I headed? At this juncture, I'm leaning towards the Spectron although I am also intrigued by the Stellavox (PW1). If anyone has info. on this amp I would appreciate your thoughts.

I've vacillated back and forth between many options but after much deliberation, it appears that I've narrowed it down to two (Can't wait until the Spectron Musician 3 is available, I guess) : At the top of is the Plinius SA250IV, the bottom is represented by Moon W-5. Oh, and to complicate matters, if I can find a real good price on a Pass X250, I probably would consider that too.

Can anyone chime in and tell me what they think of the Plinius versus the Moon? The Plinius can be had for around $4500 with the Moon in the range of $2500 to $2700, quite a difference in cost. I like the idea of being able to use Class A on the fly (withthe plinius) , but does that present its own problems? Also, heaven forbid if I needed work on the unit and had to send it back for repairs. Lugging around 155# net and 185# crated is not my idea of fun...but the sound is what I'm after.

So many amplifiers, so little time....

I'm inclined to agree with John although for a slightly different reason. I really like the Plinius, but I think I would be tempted to run it mostly in Class A mode. Its not so much the disipation of heat I'm worried about, but the fact that more heat = more breakdowns + shorter component life.

What REALLY worries me is envisioning a situation of shipping the unit for repairs (assuming it can be done in the States and not have to go back to New Zealand).. We're talking 155# net (180# plus crated) here. Not exactly a day in the park. The Moon is at least manageable at 70#.

The thing I really am after is replicating a wide sound stage WITH depth. This brings me back to the Plinius and the Spectron. With the latter, I've become somewhat less enamored due to the fact that I've been told that you really need the Sense cables to get the most out of the amp. I'm looking at a long cable run (25'), and this could amount to a considerable expense.

Skropp, I will definitely check out the Classe' and the BAT's. Everyone, thanks again for the help and advise and happy (belated) new year to you.

Parasound Halo JC-1's vs Classe' CAM-350's: these amplifiers would seem to appeal to the same listeners in terms of power, configuration (eg mono design), and price. Has anyone done a direct comparision? Both are on my short list (PLinius SA-250, Pass x350 are the others)

Uh...4Yanx....I have a confession to make. I pulled the trigger about 6 months ago and purchased the Ayre V-5x. Guess that puts me in Bigtee camp now, doesn't it? I sent mu unit to Ayre two weeks ago to have the evolution upgrade. Funny that Bigtee didn't chime back with his impression on the evolution upgrade. Maybe you put the fear of g-d in him. I miss hearing from him.

He is dead right on though when he stated that this amp does not grab you by the throat. The best thing that can be said about it is its noise floor. The Mccormack with the upgrades against the Ayre evolution series would be worth a new thread.....any takers?