One Amp To ‘Rule’ Them All....

brettmcee,

    Are you actually just looking for a good amp to buy?  
    If so, I think you phrased your post question in a manner that will not get you a satisfying answer.  It seems to me that you're looking for a shortcut in your search for an amp that does most things well, an understandable attempt to save time and guard against a poor choice.  
     You're obviously not going to receive a universally agreed upon named amp that is considered the best by Audiogon members.  
     If I'm correct, I suggest you just say so.  A better approach is to state your budget, room dimensions,ancillary equipment/speakers along with typical music played and preferred volume levels.

Just trying to help,
     Tim    

The only correct answer here is a Hypex NCore based amplifier. Superior measurable characteristics in terms of distortion, damping factor, efficiency, etc. while powering difficult loads down to 2ohms. Not to mention far more affordable that many suggested here... 

One amp that has a great reputation in both home hi-fi and pro studio monitoring installations is the Bryston 4B, in all it's revisions over the years.  I have an old 4B-ST, and a 4B-SST2.  Believe it or not, they each sound quite different from each other.  Which one is better depends on the speakers.  My old Matrix 801 series 2's sound better with the older 4B-ST (which I've had reconditioned by Bryston).  Now it's better than new, with new caps!  I've not heard the newest SST3 versions.

@noble100 nope I’m not looking to buy an amp. I am looking for Audiogon users, audio pros and audio consumers, to come together and define an amp by which all others can be measured. That amp does not need to be perfect, but it needs to be competent, consistent, reasonably affordable and something we all can/could/will have a chance to hear.

Like I said before, so much talk about audio reproduction is like comparing apples to asteroids. You’ve got $100,000 setups and $1,000 setups. I am not rich, but by starting to work to define our language and descriptions better it’ll be a lot easier for the masses to gain entry into audiophile land. Our descriptions will have more meaning and choices will be easier to make. 

@mirolab and @mikesfinest  Thanks guys!