Which solid state power house: Naim NAP 500DR or McIntosh MC611?

At this point, $75k for the major pieces of equipment seems reasonable based on my interests and what I've discovered over the last couple months. This would include speakers, amp, preamp, DAC, streamer.  This is a loose budget and can be flexible.   Last weekend I flew to NYC and visited 4 stores, and listened to a good bit of equipment. It's so damn subjective and not an easy process. I feel I have a good room, and am ready to pick equipment and start the install, and then room treatments.  I'm trying to not get impatient.

Well jeredh just to let you know that the Naim 500DR power amp alone is $22k, and if you go with the Focal Sopra 3, which retail for $19k/pair. The power amp and speakers will cost you $41k.

I highly recommend that you partner the Naim gears with Focal Sopra 3 speakers. The Focal Sopra 3 were actually voiced with Naim 500 DR amp + Naim NAC 552 preamp since the merger of the two companies. They will sound great together and have great synergy. System synergy is very important in high end audio or hifi. Fyi, Focal acquired Naim couple yrs ago.

Naim also makes great analog linestage preamp (500 series) to go with the Naim 500DR power amp. The Naim NAC 552 linestage preamp will run you another $22,400 including its partnering external power supply unit. Now so far you are at $63,400.

And for digital front end the ideal partner for Naim 500 series gears would be the ND 555 streamer/DAC and I suggest you add the 555 PS DR power supply unit to the ND 555 to significantly improve sound quality of the ND 555. The ND 555 streamer/DAC costs another $19k plus the 555 PS DR power supply unit for another $9k to $10k.

So, the total costs will far exceed your $75k budget. These do not include cables. But you will be more than satisfied with the overall performance with these Focal Sopra 3/Naim 500 series gears combo. The Focal Sopra will have great synergy with these Naim 500 series gears. They will sound spectacular together.

It will cost you much less if you go with McIntosh MC611 amps and the C2600 preamp/DAC since the MC611 monoblock amps retail for $14k/pair and the C2600 is around $7k. That’s it. For electronics alone they will run you for only $21k plus speakers but the overall musicality and sound quality won’t be as good as the Naim 500 series separates (NAP 500DR amp w/ it’s external PSU, NAC 552 analog preamp w/ its external PSU, ND 555 + 555 PS DR PSU). Not even close imo.
And the Focal Sopra 3 will sound better paired with the Naim 500 series gears.

Btw, as far as speaker choices, you shouldn't ruled out Wilson Audio and Sonus Faber. They both make fantastic sounding speakers. I personally prefer them over the Focal. But again when it comes to speakers choices it all comes down to personal taste and preference as well as your own musical tastes. 

Thanks caphill - this is good information and certainly pushes the needle towards Naim. Pricing is a slap in the face. Console space is another consideration, and the number of Naim components is something I need to address if I go with this choice.   

I listened to Wilson Sabrina (Simaudio powered) and Sasha (McIntosh powered) and they were not for me. I feel their resin enclosures kill too much of the low end. Listened to Sonus (Audio Research power) and they lack the aggressive punch I enjoy.  Yes, personal tastes vary from one to the next. I  have a lot of thinking left to do, and appreciate the input!

@jeredh 

I've heard the Wilson Sasha series 2 paired with all Audio Research Reference series gears in a very well treated room and thought they sounded fantastic together. I've also heard the Wilson Alexx, which is way better than the Sasha 2 and they should be considering the price difference between the two, paired with 2 pairs of Dan D'Agostino Momentum M400 monoblock amps + D'Agostino Momentum linestage preamp + DCS Vivaldi full four stacks served as digital front end source components and they performed fantastic together. The listening room was very well treated. The Wilson Audio speakers usually pair really well with D'Agostino amps as well as Audio Research. I've never heard the Wilson paired with McIntosh gears before so can't comment.

Sonus Faber seem to pair really well with both McIntosh and Audio Research gears. I have heard various different models of Sonus Faber speakers paired with either Audio Research and McIntosh amps before and they sounded great together. They also pair well with some Soulution & CH Precision gears. 

@jeredh 

What did you end up getting?