Help me spend $3000 on a used amp

After reviewing some suggestions I have some ideas.

The Ayre v5xe has peaked my attention most. I was shocked by how theres not much inside the cabinet. Looks to be a basic design which would allow so much room to do tweaking inside if wanted.

The pass x150.5 has the prettiest face and looks like a well regarded unit.

The KWA-150 modwright also looks well respected

These seem like the most viable options. I had a bad experience with Mcintosh as you can read hear on agon when I reviewed the Mac 7 channel amp that was around $8000 against a Gemstone 7 channel that was about $2500. This was in 2007. The cheaper gemstone sounded much better. I also cant stand the look of Mcintosh.

I get confused with krell cause there seem like so many amps out there and would not know where to start.

Tarp38, I agree on the warranty and a business that stands behind their product so long is highly admired and a big plus when buying.

There is a tread here on agon that has the ayre v5 or bryston 4bst and the thread seem to like the ayre v5 and a few agreed the ayre will have a more refined treble.

Not sure what the 4bst is like to a 4bsst2??

Things I have heard... Ayre amps are going to sound leaner but smooth,
the only Modwright amp I had I ended up sending back to modwright for
repairs twice within the first month of ownership. He fixed on his own dollar
but annoying non the less. I have enjoyed my Pass labs XA100.5's but the
bass is not as tight as the Krell FPB300cx. I have heard from a few
buddies that owned Bryston that the non squared amps do not sound all
that good. I have heard the SST2's though and thought they sounded nice.
The midrange is a little smoother on the pass though than any of the
above, speaking about the XA.5 series though not the X.5. I found the X
series to not have the lush midrange that the XA series has. The XA100.5's
are $18k though. Anyways there's a quick and dirty on my impressions of
those.

Harri009, the pass xa100.5 would be to much cost but the xa30.5 would be an option.

Looks like a xa100.5 and x150.5 are around the same used price. the xa.5 class a sounds like a better sounding amp the x.5 class ab. But the xa30.5 is only 30 watts to a x150.5 150 watts make me concerned if the 30 watts is to low. I have 90db speakers.

Be curious if anyone compared those two pass amps.

The krell 300cx is peaking my interest.

I assume you meant that the X150.5 and the XA30.5 are about the same used price. That would be accurate. Yeah I haven't heard to many people who felt that the XA30.5 was enough power without very high sensitivity speakers. Alas the 150.5 is not going to have the Class A sweetness that the XA line gives, hence the X series costing less per watt. Just remember no matter the direction you go none of those amps are bad sounding, they just have their own strengths and weaknesses. I would say that Pass's weakness is dynamic slam. With that being said If I hadn't done AB's with other amps I would probably disagree with that statement. From my understanding the same applies to the Ayre being a little light on the bass. Bryston and Krell on the other hand are known for their huge dynamics but are not as know for their super sweet midrange like the Pass XA series is. Krell does produce class A amps which do add a little sweetness but its a slightly different type than the class A design that Pass uses and a few others use. Ayre is very minimal on components and very much in the thought pattern of the fewer pieces the better, that being said I owned their K5xeMP and C5xeMP and enjoyed them so they do make good sounding equipment. No matter what you buy it's fun to hear the gear for yourself and then you will always know what one piece sounds like compared to the other. If you buy used you can generally sell any of those amps for what you paid on audiogon.