What's the best EL84 amp?

+1 on the Leak Stereo 20. Had one in the mid 1990’s and used it to run a pair of 15 OHM Rogers LS3/5A’s. System was a Naim CDI, Nac 72/Hicap/ Nap 250. Used to alternate between the Nap 250 and Leak Stereo 20. The Stereo 20 really synergized nicely with the Naim gear and LS3/5A's. Great sounding little amplifier.

Bought it for $400US. Sold it a few years later for $400US. Wish I still had it.

I've had a music reference RM-10 mk 1 for many years and absolutely love it.  I'm currently using it in my second system but, in the past, tried it in the main system in place of my joule electra rites of passage to see how it would sound.  I liked it so much I kept it in place for many months before reinserting the rites.

I'm running a matched quad of sovteks in it.  

Mine is super stable and quiet.  It has a magical addictive quality to it.  I believe the reasons there are so few for sale is there aren't very many of them, and everyone who has one simply doesn't want to let it go. 

I'll be interested in hearing your impressions dhcod.

I bet those Joules sound incredible. I also imagine you have very good air conditioning :)

We live in a small loft and I had the Stargates which were just wonderful and I really wanted to upgrade but the summers were tough!

The joules were incredible. I had them for many years but passed them on to a new home after I bought a VZN-80 and found it just as satisfying in my system as the rites but in a smaller (and cooler) package. My main speakers are quintessence prototype and they are extremely efficient. I’m currently powering them with a first watt SIT-3, which I find to be a smooth, detailed, quiet and addictive small amp, much like the RM-10. The little class A pass amp sounds exceptional driving the quintessence.

Enjoy your RM-10. They are very special. I will never sell mine.

Nor will I @car123. Or my RM-9 and RM-200, for that matter ;-) . Brooks Berdan had a fairly wealthy clientele, and he was more than happy to sell them VTL and Jadis amps (cha-ching ;-). But he recommended the Music Reference amps to his clients who wanted not just great sound, but great value as well.

Music Reference owners tend to keep their amps a long time; buyers of many other brands seem to always be looking for something better, constantly changing in hopes of finding whatever it is they are looking for. Roger Modjeski was a musician, and his priorities in reproduced sound closely aligned with mine. As did his taste in music.

Roger felt that the electrostatic loudspeaker design was the over-all best reproducer of recorded music. He was a longtime QUAD ESL owner, and used that speaker as his load in the development of the RM-10. His last product was his own ESL, with his own woofer design for 100Hz and below. He advised me to use symmetrical 24dB/octave filters with my QUAD ESL/sub setup.