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Hall of Fame: BIGGEST BADDEST Monster Amps

There have been a lot of posts on:

"tube amps with balls"
"amps to drive my 1 ohm, inefficient speakers"
"amps for rock and roll"
"Levinson, Krell, Bryston, Pass Labs etc"
"sounds more powerful than its rating suggests"
"despite low rating, puts out huge current" etc.

But I somehow find these threads divergent and confusing and still cant seem to short list a new set of monoblocks to biamp (low end) and COMMAND my Magneplanar Tympanis, fill up a large room with EFFORTLESS dynamics and CONTROL the bass with no debates, questions, reservations or tweaky failures.

So let's please hear your thoughts:

What are the all time, hall of fame, MONSTER power amps, where there should be no doubt whatsover about HUGE amounts, of effortlessly dynamic, clean, smooth, audiophile power.

I have to think that for the low end of biamping, this should be a solid state amp, unless someone can really suggest an unusually robust and low maintenance tube amp.

Mark Levinson 20.6?
Pass X-600's?
Bryston 7 B monoblocks?
Parasound monoblocks?

Thank you.
cwlondon
tapephile
1 posts
 
For the best bang for your buck,ultimate clean power and dynamic range, I use QSC
keithtexas
352 posts
 
Although a little dated now, and not the biggest and baddest when looking at kilowatt+ amps above, but Krell Evo 900e monos are both naughty and nice. :)
dsper
662 posts
 
McCormack DNA 500

Wonderful amp with no solid state glare.
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe
693 posts
 
Emotiva XPR-1 1,000 watt @8 ohm Monoblocks are a seriously overlooked gem in high fidelity , open the hood and see McIntosh type lay out with an extremely robust parts list , I bought a pair on a whim because for $3,000 why not & they easily compete with my McIntosh Mc-1201 monoblocks ,the McIntosh 1201s are the absolute best bang for the dollar in high end audio ,after trying over 50 amps and 30 preamps the Mc-1201 and McIntosh C-2200 tube preamp combo has been so good it's been nearly a decade since I've had upgrade fever , the Mc-1201s drive Roger Russell's personal hand built XR-290 line arrays in Pearl white effortlessly and at 86db that says alot , meanwhile the Emotiva XPR-1 monoblocks drive the massive 80 speaker line arrays very well & it's not until both models of monoblocks are pushing 800 watts or more does McIntosh best the Emotivas except for the Mc-1201s having the McIntosh house sound from watt 1 due to the auto former design ,if you can find the now discontinued Emotivas you won't beat those $3,000 monoblocks without spending $20 grand & higher .
thieliste's avatar
thieliste
820 posts
 
Nothing beats d'Agostino Relentless monos.
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