It seems funny to come full circle. After trying Chord's 480w monoblocks, I find power makes a big difference to the Scalas despite their 92db sensitivity.
For instance, I tried using the Mcintosh MC452 on the Scalas but they were just not enough. Strange, for a 450w. An old 500 series amp did fine though.
This required a increase in budget and revisit of many brands.
I tried Passlabs X600.5 monos with XP20 and didn't think it was for me. I then tried the Mcintosh MC601 with the accompanying C500 or C1000 pre-amp and found that good if somewhat slower than the norm. Better low-end grip than the Passlabs and a nicer tone though. This is the combo they are using in HK and it sounds nice for most music.
I've also gone back to listen to Goldmund's 600w monoblocks which were very good with Focal, though I did not quite like the sound of their pre-amp together. Too bad these monos are above my budget. :)
No opportunity (or budget) to listen to top of the line VTL which I am sure will sound fantastic.
During this time, the Chord dealer then loaned me the CPA5000 pre-amp and that was an immediate jump and resolved the aggressiveness I felt the CPA4000 and 3000 lacked. Chord is leading the pack as of this moment in terms of performance/dollar, but also partially because I was given a good deal on them.
All the above combos are very good in their own right and have slightly different character. At this price range, the equipment become increasingly transparent and the sound of your tweaks such as isolation and cables become stronger.
Hope this helps someone else on a similar hunt in the future.
As for me, the hunt for other areas such as cabling will begin shortly.. will look into echole as Focalfan has mentioned before.
