Emotiva xpa 1 monos

I would concur re the xpas being good value, but with a cautionary imperative, and that is that the Elmo's are dependent an awful lot on the system in which they're being used. Obviously this applies to all components, but I would say it applies to these more than most.

They are very speaker dependent, and sound much much better with a tube preamp stage. The speaker sensitivity is also very important , since the first 60 watts are class A, and much clearer and more linear than the next 100s of watts, so the more sensitive speakers may sound better, again contingent on your desired listening db. They are not the best but may be the very best bang for the buck on the market if used in a conducive system.

Yes I have compared their sound, through B&Ws, using high def digital and Mac2500 tube pre, to other amps -tube Primaluna and Audio Space,; solid state Mac, Marantz and Bryson----- they hold their own and I would say lower Hi-Fi, definitely not midfi (which you hear once in awhile sadly), but not the very best, except for the price and there they really are best for the buck by a very very large margin!!