Amps which are Great, but either Unknown or Underpriced


Hello everyone,


When I think of Power Amps (or integrated amps) that play / sound way beyond their price-point and can be non-household names, I think of companies like:


  1. Belles (Power Modules)
  2. McCormack
  3. Coda


Can you guys please suggest other Power Amps / Companies that are also somewhat unknown or of great value?


Your suggestions would really help me and others.  Thanks!


Matt

mminor
I was wondering when someone was going to mention Parasound.  The P5/A23 or even P5/A21 combo is supposed to reference grade stuff for around $2,000 or $3,000.  

Jolida is interesting to me also.  How do their amps compare to the MC275?
+ another for the Power Modules/Belles, at least the one I have, I haven't heard any of his other models except an ocm 500. Great amp and value in my opinion. I have a Belles Ref 150a V2 and use it with a passive. That is a challenge for any amp to stand and on its own and be excellent in that context.
Thoughts about JoLida
A lot of people like them, and they're fun for tuberollers but I cant really say much good about my 302B. Lots of reliability/maintenance problems.
Will also recommend Line Magnetic - purchased a 518ia (integrated 22wpc SET) - excellent build quality and sounded good with stock tubes, but swapped in some NOS GE 6L6s and 12 AX7s, and NOS Mullard 5AR4, sounds fantastic driving Daedalus Argos V2s
Crown XTi 2 amps are very interesting...and just downright killer if you have a rather good power conditioning solution and speakers with passive crossovers you’ve been looking to upgrade. These amps have free software you use to access a suite of digital pro tools. You type in any frequencies you want for the crossover points, type of slope (1st-4th order), relative gain and EQ for each amp which has a balanced line out that will pass a processed, or unprocessed (your choice) signal to the next amp. Very trick...all you need to buy extra is the wiring to make it work. Say goodbye to expensive crossover parts and the power-robbing crossovers and hello to one helluva dynamic envelope...provided your speakers are up to it. Sound out of the box is...meh, but with good power conditioning they come alive and are steal...very authentic sounding! No better way to multi-amp anywhere Near this price that I ever saw. These amps are not just for subwoofers...excellent mids and highs too. The only real caveat is that for best sound the speaker connectors (Speakons) should be bypassed.