Is my amp the problem?

The Parasound amps are the only stereo audiophile amps I have seen that have a volume/level control.  The older THX certified multi-channel amps all had level controls, and pro audio amps have level controls.  There's a Parasound A23 on Audiogon for $699, but honestly I think you'll get better control with the two XPA-100 monoblocks (and cheaper).  You could always wire an Alps potentiometer directly into your RCA interconnect for the woofer amp.  It looks like there are cheap passive volume preamp for like $50-60 available.

I haven't used ART stuff, but I kind of view them as a lower end item, like Behringer.  Not bad, per say, but definitely inexpensive, with Crown and QSC being better quality (but more expensive also).

Wow, I thought we were looking at cheaper alternatives, lol.  I would avoid the Adcom.  I had an Adcom GFA-545.  It was on the warm/slow side and sounded dirty/smeared when compared to other better amps.

The Emotiva XPA-2 is definitely a contender if you are considering this and definitely better than the XPA-100 monoblocks.  Very strong amp.

I do not have any direct experience with the Wyred 4 Sound (or any other ICE based Class D amp).  Eric Squires likes the w4s, but I cannot give you an opinion on how well it will control the woofer.  It does have a radical 100k ohms input impedance!

Emporium:

- Go to Emotiva’s main website http://emotiva.com/

- Click on "Community" in the menu bar at the top

- Scroll all the way almost to the end. There should be a forum call "The Emporium"

- Scroll down. The topic/listing should still be on the first page and titled "XPA-100 GEN 2 PAIR BNIB".