Is there any obvious advantage for monoblocks?

Parasound had an amp (HCA 3500 I think) which was so dual mono that it even had 2 power cords and switches. This thing tipped the scales at 85 pounds and begged to be mono blocks at about 44 pounds each. What were they thinking? In these days of everyone using dual transformers, I feel that any new stereo amp that is going to weigh more than 50 pounds or so should be redesigned as mono pairs. If you need to ship a 90 pound amp with a bad channel back to the manufacturer, you'll wish it was a 45 pound mono. Much easier to pack and ship to say nothing of much cheaper.

Cooler operation.

I own a Parasound HCA-3500.Hard to move around, but exceptional bass power and extension, goes to REALLY HIGH VOLUMES without compression or strain, and has great imaging and sounstaging.The bass is its biggest advantage in my situation.I use 2 dedicated 20 amp breakers and 2 seperate lines and outlets for each power cord!!

Don't underestimate shorter speaker cables and, in my case, extreme WAF! I was able to hang each mono off a basement joist just under each speaker, threading 8 foot cables up through the baseboards to each speaker. Look, Ellen, no Alephs! They run cooler down there (as well convecting better as there's no "floor" in the plastic milk crate each sits in, and the longish XLRs from upstairs are completely quiet. Using a mid-mounted stereo amp would have eliminated the laundry room, and y'know, ya gotta have clean clothes....

Subaruguru...We agree! (Something must be wrong here). All my power amps and electronic crossovers live in the cellar, and have done so for decades. Besides, that way you can hide from your audiophile buddies the fact that your amps don't carry high end nameplates.