???What's The LEAST Expensive "End Game"Amplifier You've Ever Heard???

Anything from Nelson Pass or BAT.

Any amp designed by James Bongiorno! SAE, Dynaco, GAS, Sumo, SST.

6 months ago that would be a hard question, now it’s easy. I have had lots of tube amps, and a few SS amps. A few months ago I found my forever preamp and amp. The Pass Labs Preamp. and the amp is the First Watt SIT-4…this amp does everything beautifully….at 10 watts of Class A it makes my Klipsch Forte IVs and the Volti speakers come alive like never before.
I went down the tube rabbit hole hard, like I was a drunk, buying this tube that tube, nothing made my music sing, to my ears. One day I turned on my tube amp and another tube burned out so that was the last straw, I buried the tube in the back yard to remind me tubes really suck. I bought new tubes and luckily a local guy bought all my tubes and amps…never again…

So if Scotty beamed me to a deserted island I would take my Pass Labs XP-12 preamp, the First Watt Sit-4 and the Pass Labs XA-25 as a spare amp. 
After a few months in the past I would get tired of the sound with my gear, not with the First Watt Sit-4, it makes my horn speakers just sound so amazing…my mind goes blank and makes me engage with the music…the day floats by….best amp of my 71 years…

End game for me means last amplifier I could afford, that would be the Engström Arne.

Hope to get there one day.

Easy question... my Pass Labs First Watt J2, which makes my Cube Audio Jazzon speakers sing. It has the euphonic sound of a tube amp.  

Supernait3 is an amazing sounding amp

@freediver Plenty of Posts to your inquiry are you reading ?

@pindac ,yep,every reply,although I'm a little disappointed that the majority of choices are no where near inexpensive..
 I was hoping to see that folks were finding affordable amps had gotten so good these days they could get off the merry go round without spending an arm & a leg to do it..This thread killed that thought pretty quickly...

Job 225.  By Goldmund.  $1,600 new.  

I cloned the Mission 776 preamp. I found it sound so good indeed. I don't have chance audition the Mission 777 power amp. 

Maybe you should try this Mission amps if you have chance.

@freediver Even though sold, which is a guideline to a sale price.

The Amp in the Link is to my recommendation made earlier in the Thread. 

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/neurochrome-modulus-686-dual-mono.417355/

@taheeti, I hope that 225 lasts longer than my Job Integrated.  It blew a MofFet a year ago, and I can’t find anybody locally to repair it.  One of my biggest Audio disappointments:(

Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra

Coda S5.5

The very best sound quality is from single-ended amps. But they typically have too low power output for most speakers. The next best sound is Benchmark AHB2. 

Here's my review:

Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifier – 10 Audio

BMC CS3 from Germany. 8,000 Euros. The catch is it must be paired with another BMC dac or source.

@imjerrys I know reviewers and friends that have long term experience with the AHB2 say the AHB2 sucks all the soul out of music. 

But others also really like them. I don't quite understand if this is a gear mismatch or what. But the AHB2 falls into my weird list.

The very best sound quality is from single-ended amps.

@imjerrys They don't really make proper bass- most SETs that make 7 Watts or more can't make full power at 20Hz. The output transformer simply lacks the inductance to allow it. If it did have the inductance it would be much larger and then wouldn't be able to make the highs.

Distortion is quite high, which is part of the lush quality, but that distortion also obscures detail. 

You can have amps that are much lower distortion so are more detailed, but every bit as smooth, while also making proper bass. So SETs can be fun, but in no way are they the 'best'.

@samureyex If Benchmark ever upgraded the AHB2 I would think it would sound like the new SimAudio Moon 761 (have not heard the 861). I have owned the AHB2 many times and the 761 reminded me of a better AHB2. More power and a bit tinge of warmth and maybe as detailed as the AHB2.

These new amps are from the North Collection.

A bit surprise no one has mentioned the AGD Audion monoblocks. Owners and reviewers alike touted these amps as pretty much end-game.

I haven't heard them so I have no opinion 😝

I am very impressed with the Coincident Dynamo SE Mk.ll. I think it is now up to MK.lll status. It is a SET amp that uses EL34's instead of the usual suspects for a SET amp. If your speakers are efficient, the 8 watts seem powerful and also subtle. Lots of great musical textures and the midrange seems to have this backlit beauty that I really enjoy. It has a passive volume control, so you can use it as a integrated. It also has a nice headphone amp.  You can find these new for under $2,000, and used for around $1,000. 

although I'm a little disappointed that the majority of choices are no where near inexpensive.

@freediver - wishful thinking.

For a component to beat box store sonics, from increased costs from engineering, better parts (capacitors, resistors, custom transformers…), casework, one would expect costlier components.  Sonic bargains are very rare, no short cuts to better sonics unless new discoveries like GanFet.  

Well, for an 'end game' integrated within a ~$10K system I would choose the Pathos Model One MKIII which sells for $3K. 

Being that no amplifier is load impervious its performance will always be contingent on which speakers it's mated with (and vice versa), which is mostly about the obstacle that is the passive crossover situated between the amp and drivers and which severely impacts the interfacing between them. To make matters worse: passively one amp channel drives the entire frequency range of a speaker, and thus the higher frequency bands are affected by the power requirements down low, which has sonic implications - not least at elevated SPL's with complex and LF-heavy music material.  

Once you remove the passive crossover between the amp and drivers for direct and dedicated amp channel connection to each respective driver section actively (out- or inboard) - the passive XO replaced with a high quality DSP/electronic crossover - you significantly lessen the load strain presented to each amp channel, which in turn means making more effective use of its inherent performance envelope with a more effortless and lower distortion sound to follow. 

With the better interfacing between amps and drivers/speakers actively one is to roam more freely in the choice of amp not only from a power and overall matching perspective, but also with regard to much more easily harnessing the fuller performance potential of an amplifier. This way a higher performance will be achieved vs. a passively configured scenario with the same amp, although one will need more of them actively and as many that are required to cover the driver sections. 

It would seem stupid (and yet for the industry self-serving, certainly economically) to produce massively overbuilt and astronomically priced amps weighing in at hundreds of pounds as a (partial) answer to inefficient, load-heavy high-end speakers with power sucking complex passive crossovers, when you could let go of such a system's severe bottleneck and be good, indeed better with much cheaper amps in an active context. 

My Sansui of the alpha series...

The AGD monoblocks are fantastic but " if you can find one" ....The Aavik U-150 integrated 300 watt with world class dac AND  MC Phono stage is the best value in an end game amp...20K new...used around 9K......find one and buy it. Read Steve Huffs review.

Rotel RB-1590.

Rotel RB-1590
 

Cheers,

Scott

With respect for akg_ca's response, my most musical mid-fi integrated was the Onix OA21 with SOAP. Old British amp with simple design and great phono preamp wasn't a power house, but worthy of consideration.

Pioneer SA-1000 integrated amplifier, purchased at a garage sale in Valley Village CA for $10.00.  The seller originally wanted $20, but it did not power up, so he took the ten.  Went to Frye's Electronics in Burbank and bought a couple of fuses.  I still enjoy the sound of the SA-1000.

'End Game'....It's or yours?

Although I mentioned the Coda S5.5 above (my main stereo amp), I agree with the fellow who recommended the Rega Aethos integrated. A real sleeper.

Though not an integrated amplifier, I'd throw in the CODA S5.5. 50 WPC pure class A, and more in A/B; 100 amp current capable. An end game solid state amp for me, drives all of my speakers easily (even vintage Infinity RS Kappa 7s).

Doug Dale at CODA found a supply of hard to find "high bandwidth" transistors, and upgraded the S5.5 with those......somewhere mid 2023. I'm not sure why they didn't indicate a different model, like the S5.6 or some such; but it is a great SS amp.

I don't know about end game but I quite like my Gato AMP-150 AE

I am thrilled with my system and my amp is an integrated Primaluna Evo 300 (all tube). The tubes made the difference though. Up front I have two sets of Radiotechniques and 1 set of Brimars. In power I have a set of KT-150s and a set of GE 6L6GCs. With 4 KT-150s I was missing out of quite a bit of "mid range magic" and with for 6L6GCs the mids were a little shouty and didn't have enough power. Mixed they are incredible together. 

Speakers are Volti Rivals.

With the right record/recording/pressing, I truly want no more out of my system. There is always better but I'm more than content with my setup.

I’ll be trying a Class D Audio mini GaN 5 very soon. We will see.

My end game usually only lasts until something new , different and cost effective comes along.

Been running mainly Class D for a number of years.   Currently have more recent Hypex Ncore and older Icepower. 

Class D Audio Mini Gan 5. $800 & fits in your hand. 5 lbs. I own two. Try to beat the sq for 5x the price. Good luck.

When I purchased my Daedalus speakers, eight years ago, I flipped my entire system to a tube based system.  After an extensive search, I purchased a Viva Solistino SET  I.A. The Viva, is  is my long-term hold, with  no plans to replace it.