Best Amp for Timbre, Depth and Spatial Resolution?


I have an Ayre CD player, BADA Alpha DAC, deHavilland Mercury pre-amp, CJ MF-2500A amp and N802 - am looking to upgrade amp.
Would like to hear views on Best Amp for Timbre, Depth and Spatial Resolution.
Not married to tube or SS..
Always wonder about Stereophile recommended components such as Aesthetix Atlas, Parasound JC-1, CJ LP-125 and the likes. I would pay about $5k on Agon so there are some limitations.
Thanks.
128x128johnmc67
I thought the general consensus was that so many show setups were haphazard affairs in bad rooms often using gear that wasn't even broken in, to the extent that it was often impossible to attribute the resultant poor sound to any one piece of the system?

If so, then why would any knowledgeable installer use what he heard at a show as proof positive that a given piece was lacking in some way?
Mapman, I could think at a number of factors. So in no particular order:

1) the spectra balance of the amp. Some amp-speaker combinations can emphasis (or de-emphasis) the frequencies that are more problematic (or less problematic) in one's room. Obviously this ultimately depends on one's room.

2) The ability of the amp to control the subwoofers.

3) Like with the response of the two speakers at the listening position, the amp is also suppose to have zero differences between the left and wright change. How large and/or significant such error are in reality, I do not know. But I can imagine that such differences exist and play a role, as not two components are identical.
BTW, I am not saying all amps sound the same. But an amp alone has no sound. So what specs/measurements on an amp alone can be used to determine a pecking order in regards to timbre, depth, and spatial resolution? I am not sure there are any. But they can be used to determine relative matches to specific speakers. Then you are in business.

So you can assess how any particular amp + speaker combo does in this regard, but I am not sure it can be done for amps alone.
NVP...your third point makes absolutely no sense at all. Is this discussion really about imagining differences? You can easily test an amp for output balance, and you can test if speakers are matched, and an amp alone has tonal characteristics for days...I think sleep deprivation has set in among the posters.