???What's The LEAST Expensive "End Game"Amplifier You've Ever Heard???

Well, I could be part of the "no such thing" group, but, having been a part of the state-of-the-art club back in the late, late, late 20th century (it sounds very odd to type that, as though it was waaaayyyy back in ’The Dinosaur Age’!!), I’ve found components in the past 15 years that are quite good at their price level. There are some great amps that don’t cost and arm and a leg (but still are not 'cheap').

The LEAST expensive would be - as Tomic601 has noted - the Aesthetix Mimas integrated. And you could get it used from some dealers, so that’s ideal! (Circa 5k). I haven’t heard it myself, but reviewers I trust found it sublime. And it’s dual mono (ultra wide soundstage if that sort of thing matters to you), tubed linestage, and the amp side is solid state.

Also, an Odyssey Khartago amp. Under 1k ($995, and Klaus hasn’t changed the price in 10 years. I owned one of these already and they are fantastic! And 130 watts, too!).

Nobody has mentioned so far the Simaudio Ace, which can be had right now used for $1500. Is it a dog?

@gride,a dog?NOT by a long shot..I have a 240i driving Harbeth M30.2Xd speakers & if I had never heard REALLY REALLY expensive gear I could live happily ever after with this system,clueless to the possibility that I might be able to squeeze a bit more imaging & staging out of my speakers with a different amp...
IMO,one of the biggest problems we face in this hobby,and for that matter,life in general,is that we as humans are conditioned from the time we are able to be plunked down in front of a boob tube is to NOT accept anything less than "the best"..We are told to never accept anything but "being"the best at anything we do,to never accept "owning" anything but the best..You rarely,if ever,see commercials extolling the virtue of simply being as good as you personally can be(except for maybe U.S.Army commercials hahahaha),to accept that anything not considered by society as the absolute pinnacle of consumerism is not only acceptable but ,in reality,so near the quality & performance of so called TOTL that in a lot of cases the difference can be considered laughable...
When I started this thread,it was my hope that we would hear about the pieces on the more budget end of things that members on the road to finding perfection,found offering enough overall performance,quality & value so as to be considered "end game"...Unfortunetly the overall opinion,born out by most replies in this thread,seems to be that nothing is ever "good enough" & that change for the sake of chasing some elusive mountain peak,is the game...

Heed Audio Elixer.

@freediver Word!!  I kinda wish I never had heard that high end system one fateful day in the hifi shop…. But, it’s also true that I want the music to wow me every time, and it only sometimes does. Is the the amp? The recording?  The streaming quality?  I like you was hoping this thread would have suggestions on how to get there for less than the cost of a mortgage. It has been helpful though because you can get most stuff used. For me it’s not about getting the very best but trying to get consistently good sound.