Have you tried the ART SLA-1 amp yet?

Sean, i am not sure if there the cheapest but my trial amp was ordered from www.BSWonline.com for 199.00 shipped.

They have already sent it out and sent a tracking # without exchanging a single word.... so they have decent service.

I am not expecting a world class sounding amp for 200.00 but if it is above midfi in sound quality as others have suggested, then one or even two of these amps for driving each channel above 80hz in HT duty, might be cost effective.

Sean,
No apology necessary--not from you. Defending the integrity of this site is something we should all do as vigorously as possible. As for price, I got my amp from fullcompass.com for $209 delivered.

For anyone interested,
Dlshifi has just posted an outstanding review of the ART SLA-1 in the review section. I think his observations are spot-on, based on what I have heard of the amp in my own system, which, admittedly, is very similar to Dlshifi's (Supratek, Piega P10s). I want to give the ART more time to break in and experiment with some different power cords and tweaks before commenting further on the sound, but I think it is safe to say that the amp is pretty damn good, perhaps even remarkable at its price point.

It really does not look like a bad amp,Internally speaking. Will do further research into parts quality and read feedback on it!

Other contenders are the Samson,AKSA and LeAmpII's.All are noteworthy in the eyes and ears of others.
Synergy is another factor that has to be weighed in.

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/rchau/audio/sla-1.html

Abex: are you a spokesperson for the LeAmpII? Any affiliation with the company? In every post I've seen by you on 3 forums you've name dropped this amp constantly as a superior product, and seeing the amp doesn't exist yet, it's all rather absurd....

d911,
I just visited your website, and would like to ask a question about your reference upgrade. As I understand it, it includes your standard mods, plus dual mono attenuators to replace the stock detented potentiometers. Are these Shallco based attenuators a ladder design or series design?

Thanks in advance,