Do high dollar mono blocks truly improve the Sound Quality over the mid tier amps

@skinzy 

Apologies, I meant the McIntosh MC901.

The model I referenced would probably be a step down from your Deltas.

And yes, you will get great hate on these forums for liking such a plebeian product, despite it costing six figures each.

The Classe Deltas are not mid-tier.  If anything, they are a bargain compared to

lesser amps that cost more.   B&W frequently pairs their best equipment with the Delta monos — because, according to a Bowers rep Intalked to, they were designed to work together.  I sold more expensive amps to get the Classe because I had Bowers 800D3 with which I was very pleased.  The Deltas were a noticeable upgrade.

The only concern I might have is if the Deltas are a good fit with your Wilsons.  I would suspect so, as they have great ability to push out power, but I don’t know.

@skinzy 

”Unfortunately, no one in this thread has responded to my question directly based on direct personal experience with an upgrade”

I’ve learned a lot of the various audio forums, but unlike most of my hobbies I have to say audio forums have  than their share of people who just like to talk and more seriously unfriendly people.  (Not talking about anyone on the thread; just a general comment.)

Back to your question, I would probably reach out to Wilson or your dealer and see what they think about different monoblocks.  The 800D3s have a weird dip (or requirement or something; I have forgotten ) that the Deltas can specifically address.  All speakers will have their quirks, no matter how nice.  You might want to see if there is a particular set of monoblocks that cures  that issue, whatever it is.

My gut tells me you’re not going to do much better than two Deltas, unless it’s four Deltas in a bi-amp set up.

(One other intriguing possibility would be the McIntosh hybrid drive amps.  McIntosh gets a bad rap in audio forums due to being too “common” for a lot of folks — and overpriced in some models.)

But I’m intrigued by the Mcintosh mc451 dual mono amplifier, that has tubes on top and solid state below. From the ad copy “The MC451 Dual Mono Amplifier is a high-end, hybrid amplifier designed for bi-amping loudspeakers. It combines a 150 Watt vacuum tube amplifier and a 300 Watt solid-state amplifier on a single chassis, utilizing McIntosh’s proprietary Hybrid Drive technology.”

Note, I’ve never heard or even seen one of these.  So it’s not  recommendation, just spitballing.

@skinzy

If you want to go crazy, a pair of darTZeell NHB-468s is for sale here on Audiogon for a "mere" $129K.

Michael Fremer of Stereophile did a review, matching them with his Wilson Alexx and apparently loved them. His article also discusses various monoblocks he has paired with this speakers.

I still favor quad amping with 4 Classe Deltas before I did this, though.