looking for truly transparent affordable amp s

I suggest you look at one of these three Hypex NCore Class D amplifiers:

1) Stereo powered by Hypex SMPS1200A400, 600W @ 2 Ohm, 1-Ohm minimum, $1,490/each, 1200W Hypex power supply for 600Wpc, dimensions 2.8″ x 9.8″ x 12″ (70 x 250 x 308mm), 8.5 lbs (3.9 Kg), specify faceplate finish: black or natural aluminum.

2) Bridged Mono Bloc powered by SMPS1200A400, 1200W @ 2 Ohms, 1-Ohm minimum, $2,980/pair, 1200W Hypex power supply, dimensions 2.8″ x 9.8″ x 12″ (70 x 250 x 308mm), 8.5 lbs (3.9 Kg), specify faceplate finish: black or natural aluminum.

3) Regular Mono Block powered by Hypex SMPS600, $1,900/pair, 600W power supply, specify faceplate finish: plain black, black with NCore logo, plain natural aluminum.

"Hypex NCore is among the most popular and successful amplifier technology. NCore arrived December 2011. The first two NCore batches sold out in hours. There are several thousand Internet pages referencing NCore.

Hypex market NC400 strictly for so-called “DIY” or hobbyist. Hypex does not solicit OEM and offer no quantity pricing. James Romeyn Music and Audio, LLC professionally builds NCore amplifiers for music and audio lovers who lack skill, time, tools, and/or work space to properly assemble their own NCore NC400 amplifiers.

Hypex NCore NC400 drives any speaker and is among the best values in audio. Your amplifier ships twelve days after payment and arrives soon thereafter. Compact, lightweight runs cool, affordable, reliable, draws little current, and superb performance for power hungry applications".

See:

http://jamesromeyn.com/#/home-audio-gear/hypex-ncore-nc400-build-service-on-time-or-free-build/

I borrowed the Hypex NCore NC400 Power Amplifier Mono Blocks (from a friend) and connected my Bricasti M1 DAC direct (no pre-amplifier) to the Hypex Ncore NC400 and listened. After many days of listening, I decided that, for me, going direct from the Bricasti M1 DAC to the Hypex NCore power amplifier sounds great to my ears. My system sounds much better because the music was clearer, more detailed and more open. For me, the Hypex NCore NC400 power amplifier mono blocks sound more natural and open. It seems another layer of sound is presented without the pre-amplifier in the system (my opinion, everyone has a different opinion on this).

As a result, I ordered the Hypex NCore NC400 Bridged mono blocks from James Romeyn Music and Audio, LLC (James). He was very helpful in answering my many questions about the Hypex NCore units. I hope to get delivery in about 2 weeks. I suggest you give him a call. See:

James Romeyn Music and Audio, LLC
James Romeyn
Hypex Ncore NC400 Professional Build Service
435 213 3953

I've seen several Krell KAV 250's come through for quite a bit less than $2500. I used to have one. Its not perfect, but its pretty much exactly what you are asking for. Its made in the US and built like a tank. Be careful not to drop it on your foot.

Krell KAV250 is as "transparent" as anything I have heard in recent years. I've almost "jumped on" one on a few occasions.

I've heard it with both Martin Logan and Focal speakers and similar results with both.

The Pass XA-30.5 is an easy recommendation.

While it'll be slightly higher then your $2,500 limit, it will EASILY be worth the few extra hundred dollars.

We've used this amplifier with our moderately high end system (Meridian 800 Series Sources, MIT Top Tier Oracle Cables, Watt Puppy 5.1 and now Sasha I Speakers) for years until we finally upgraded to a pair of XA-200.5's.

We've integrated our home theater system with our stereo system (with a priority on stereo), and we use 3 X-250.5 amplifiers to drive our theater speakers. The X-250.5 is no match for the XA-30.5. The only thing the 30.5 gives up with percussive dynamics, otherwise it's no contest. Imaging and coherency were dramatically better, it provided a natural harmonic of the recorded venue few systems approach much less obtain.

When I was selling an X-250.5, the person came to our home and asked to listen to our XA-30.5 in comparison to our X-250.5. He purchased the 30.5 instead!

We've had many amplifiers in our system through the years; Bryston, Theta and Audio Research. Audio Research amplifiers were exceptional but we opted not to continue to use tubes because we integrated our theater system.

Hope this helps.

Aolmrd1241----thanks for the suggestion of the Taranis amp. The review sounded promising although the lack of RCA inputs seems odd

Jrinkerptdnet----all my sources have variable outputs (including a Revox tuner) and I seldom come close to turning any of the volume controls all the up so I'm happy where I am on sources (after I have the Cambridge modded that is). I've heard and read great things about the First Watt amps and demoed the Aleph 5 many years ago but have found that even my quite sensitive custom speakers devour lower powered solid state without mercy. On these speakers, I use a 45w SET amp presently and used 45w EL34 monoblocks a few years back with great results only very rarely running out of power but have had to listen at much lower levels to avoiding clipping the 2 gainclones I've had on these speakers (and the speakers are biamped so the amps haven't been asked to do low bass). I've thought about trying some of the high sensitivity speakers out there so as to be able to use the lower powered SET amps, and perhaps the First Watts as well, but I'm quite satisfied with the speakers I have but thanks for the recommendations.

Peter---the Liberty amps sounds very promising, pretty much what I'm looking for and the reviews speak volumes but no one tried the amps as monoblocks so would you please comment on the sound of the bridged B2b-100. I know that a single Pathos Classic MK III sounded significantly less involving that a bridged pair. Thanks!

Lyle