Pass Labs or Audio Research Solid State Amplifiers

Without knowing what your associated equipment is, it is a little hard to provide specific input. In general terms, though, I have never been as impressed with Audio Research solid state amps as with their tube amps. It always struck me (and it has been a couple years, admittedly,) that the SS gear was an attempt to broaden the product line and keep people who were former AR users (or fans) but wanted to switch to SS. The sound was far less musical than I had come to expect from AR.

I listen to a fairly wide range of music, and have found the Pass X series to be pretty impressive versus much more expensive gear. You can typically find the X-150 for about $2,500 on A-gon and occasionally get luckier. If you have heard and liked the recent Pass amps, IMHO you should probably also give a listen to Plinius - I was VERY surprised at how musical some of their amps are (again a used 100 is about $2,500)

Considering your preferred music, though, you might also consider a "more agressive" sounding amp like a used Krell. While I am not generally a Krell fan (never integrated well with my current or prior systems), I have to admit that they do sound pretty impressive with Metallica and pack a great SLAM on appropriate speakers . (One of my friends is a huge mettalica fan and set his system up around them - he went with Krell amps).

-j

Pas with some heavy duty power would be out of your budget.I would have to differ with everyone else here.I have a Audio Research D-130 solid state amp and it has very good sound,I listen to music with heavy bass and highs,not heavy metal though.You might be pleased with the sound of the Audio Research D-200 which is a 200 wpc amp and it's within your range.Interconnects are important too.I run with balanced Audioquest Diamond and it really does the trick.Good luck.

You may want to consider a couple of older (early 90s) ARC
solid-state amps: the D-240mkII (120wpc/8ohm) and the
D-400mkII (200wpc/8ohm). The amps are fully balanced
low-feedback class A/AB designs biased to run class A for
the first 15/30wpc while doubling power output as impedance
halves. Sound familiar? It should. The current Pass X-series
amps are almost exactly the same design-wise. And they sound
quite similar.

The current ARC 100.2 is similar in design to the D-240mkII
and the D-400mkII.

The ARC D-130/D-200/D-300 amps use much different circuits
than the D-240mkII/D-400mk/100.2 and are not as refined in
my experience.

I am currently running two ARC D-400mkIIs vertically biamped
into a pair of Kinetic Audio Labyrinths (large transmission
lines based on the old IMF designs). I couldn't be happier.
I used to drive them with two ARC D-200s, then two ARC
D-240mkIIs.

My ARC LS-5mkII pre has been a constant, however. Wonderful
synergy with the ARC tube pre and the ARC solid-state amps.

Seems like there are a number of people above who don't believe in Audio Research solid state gear, however I own the 100.2 amp (100 wpc at 8 ohms, 200 wpc at 4 ohms) and think it is an outstanding amp. You can read reviews about it on Audioreview.com. I compared it directly against the Audio Research VT-100 MkIII (tube) and a Bryston amp (ss), and I preferred the 100.2 by a large margin. Better control of the bass and plenty of power. It is a neutral amp that reproduces all types of music accurately without artifically coloring it, and it also works equally well at low volumes -- none of the detail or music is lost. If you have the opportunity, you should try to listen to the 100.2 and the other Audio Research amps listed by the poster above before writing them off your list.

I also listened to a Balanced Audio Technology VK-200 (100 wpc at 8 ohms), and was impressed by its power and accuracy. I preferred it over the Proceed HPA2 that I compared it to simultaneously. Both the 100.2 and the VK-200 run about $1,800-2,000 used here on Audiogon. I cannot recall the model Bryston amp I listened to, so I don't want to give you the impression they are not equal to Audio Research gear. There are a lot of positive comments about Bryston amps, such as the 4B-ST. I have not heard the Aleph amps, so I cannot comment on them.

I second the recommendation for the McCormack. Also, instead of buying a preamp, pick up a used Theta Miles CDP and run it directly to the amp. I used to have a Miles and it was great for rock and metal.