Ideas For A Beefy Solid State Amp For Subwoofer Duties

The go-to amp for this application is the Dayton SA1000. It has all the power, with EQ, level, filters, boost, and phase adjustments that make it pretty much the perfect sub amp. Very affordable at Parts Express, great support and customer service too.  

I have 2 of them for 4 subs, but one would do just fine. You do not need 2 for stereo, that is a myth, there is no stereo. Simply wire the subs in series or parallel to achieve the total impedance load you want for the amp. Depending on your sub impedance you might want to use 2 amps, but it simply is not necessary otherwise. In any case you can get 2 of them brand new for well within budget. Totally the way to go.

why not get 4 subwoofer plate amps and build small enclosures?  
parts express has a 500w amp for 325

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-SPA500-500W-Subwoofer-Plate-Amplifier-300-807?gclid=EAIaI...

Or do this one:   Parasound NewClassic 2250 v.2 Two Channel Power Amplifier-Audio Advisor
I have one and it is a great sounding amplifier and it is on sale for $999.  It is a stereo amplifier so get two of them so each channel drives one sub.   It puts out healthy power at lower impedances, but do verify it meets your power needs.

Interesting comments.

@russ69  it’s been on my mind, the point you make about lightweight amps with lots of watts, versus heavy hitters weighing 100lbs that deliver a lot less power, at least on paper:)
I suppose SMPS help in this regard, but yes... point taken.

@millercarbon   I’ve been messing around with powered subs and plate amps and I want to try a different approach. In theory, once all the hardware and cabling is in place, the room measured and DSP working, I should be able to pull out one amp and replace it with another, with only basic software tweaks to the DSP. Then I can see how one amp compares to the next and which sounds better. Look at it a different way -  roughly speaking, we slice up the sound of our systems into 3 fairly equal portions - high frequency, midrange and bass. When looking at the attention to detail and the money we spend on powering the HF and Mids, it seems crazy handing over bass duties to a crappy little plate amp mass-produced in China and sold here for a few hundred bucks. I know, you can pick many holes in my logic, but for me it makes sense...and... it’s another project and more stuff!

I have all the hardware other than the amps, so I’m almost ready to rock and roll.

@spatialking thanks, I’ll check those out.

Rooze

"...that is a myth, there is no stereo..."
99% true but I guess you didn't own any stereo Beatles albums, lots of single channel bass.  

"...I suppose SMPS help in this regard..."
There are times when you can't pull enough power out of the wall, that's why the lights dim when you crank up the big systems. Big caps help with that.