I have been through a few more, so an upgrade....
Fisher Receiver- not one of the classics :(
Sansui Receiver- worked great and got me through college
NAD3140 Integrated - a classic, still powers my garage system
NAD2150 Bridged w/3140(still works great)
Adcom 5300- thin and strident, one of my least favorites
Acurus A250- an ok lower end choice
Acurus A200- actually preferred the older A250 by a little
Aragon 4004MkII- a very nice ss amp for the money
Classe DR25- more refined and musical than the 4004MkII
McCormack DNA 2- outstanding bass, otherwise unremarkable
BAT VK-500- nice mids but veiled and not that good at the extremes
McCormack DNA 500- excellent for the money, nice midrange, juicy bass, musical across the board, and never runs out of steam, high frequencies don't quite hang with the best
Cary 500MB- nice midrange for SS and pretty good across the board. The McCormack had better bass and the Cary was a bit noisy in comparison.
Lamm M1.1 - These amps showed me what music in your home can really sound like, rich, dimensional, dynamic, with deep powerful bass and an in-the-room holographic midrange. Extremely easy to listen to and never fatiguing. Sonic weaknesses included a darkness of tone and somewhat rolled off high frequencies, lack of air, and limited soundstage although these were slight and in no way did they overwhelm the positives. I understand these issues have been rectified in the M1.2, which I would love to own.
Herron M1 - Very nice amps with a musical and dimensional midrange, excellent sweet high frequencies, and good but not great dynamics and bass. I understand the attraction to these, but ultimately I need more "meat on the bone" and more powerful deep bass.
Clayton M200 - Initially had trouble integrating these into my system with my single-ended preamps until I interfaced with Jensen PI transformers and now the background is black/quiet. These are the real deal in just about every way, with clarity, neutrality, and excellent deep bass. They may ultimately lose out to the Lamm M1.1's in the areas where Lamm's are strong, but they are at least close in every way, and better in the areas where I listed the Lamm's having weaknesses. One of the best SS amps available.
