Amps which are Great, but either Unknown or Underpriced

A note about Vincent…I own a Kavent S-33 preamp that is a re-badged Vincent SA-93…not sure why they needed 2 companies selling the same stuff (Kavent is gone), but in any case it's an amazing balanced dual mono preamp with isolated power supplies on one side of the deep aluminum cladded chassis. Also, I have a good friend with one of those massive Vincent hybrid integrateds and it also is an overbuilt thing that sounds fabulous.

For years I used an Acurus DIA100 with my magnepan 1.4s. This Christmas I moved up to 1.7s and the DIA100 wasn't getting it done. Hit the want ads and bought a second hand Acurus A150. Sounds great and its got real bang for the buck until I can upgrade. Very happy with Acurus products.

I have several McCormack amps modified by Steve McCormack.  It's a great option if you're looking for SOTA performance for a fraction of the cost.

While he used to offer certain mod packages, I think it's totally variable nowadays.  Whatever your budget, preferences and associated equipment...he can make an amp tailored to you.

Another great advantage is that you never have to pay dealer markup again.  Just buy one of his used stock amps for next to nothing and have him modify it.  Then you could have an amp that would retail for $20k+ depending on what options you choose, but you only paid a fraction of that.

Occasionally, you will see a modified version of his amps up for sale, but most people hang on to them.  Your best bet is to find a used DNA.5 on ebay.  These are the cheapest to find and one of their favorite to mods.  It will also drive most any speaker and, if you need more power, just get 2 DNA.5 for monoblock conversion.

If you want to go tubes...I would say that Rogue Audio is probably under-priced and under-appreciated.  David Berning amps would also be on my list for certain applications/systems.

Second Line Magnetic, great amps, ultra reliable built like a German Tank not a Russian one, with a great sound, at a great price..
Also Opera Consonance, real class sound, excellent reliability, and beyond reproach build quality.

Emotive Audio (PA, USA)