Hi ctsooner... I agree...quite frankly every type of component has overachievers...it's a matter of finding which they are in which category and price point, but always will come back to the synergy with the speakers and system as a whole. .. yes... I hit that with craigert earlier, referring him to threads of monitor gold owners for recommendations.
Ayre and belle, both amazing gear. My preference on my system was the parasound, haven taken my bahemoth of a center channel and 2 bookshelves to audition at a few audio dealers, a cousins house, and a brothers. Covered the spectrum well.. though as I stated...never heard a rotel.
Craigert, the moral of the story is: patience is the name of the game. You are talking serious money, and there's a lot to know. In the endgame, when you have a very few components in mind, you really need to go audition them with your speakers!, (or do a lending scenario) In the end, your long term happiness with the hard earned $ spent will be about the synergy of your listening preferences. No 1 "best" rated amp or other, is necessarily the best with your gear.
Ayre and belle, both amazing gear. My preference on my system was the parasound, haven taken my bahemoth of a center channel and 2 bookshelves to audition at a few audio dealers, a cousins house, and a brothers. Covered the spectrum well.. though as I stated...never heard a rotel.
Craigert, the moral of the story is: patience is the name of the game. You are talking serious money, and there's a lot to know. In the endgame, when you have a very few components in mind, you really need to go audition them with your speakers!, (or do a lending scenario) In the end, your long term happiness with the hard earned $ spent will be about the synergy of your listening preferences. No 1 "best" rated amp or other, is necessarily the best with your gear.