Hidden GEMS

Monarchy amps have been very well received. The designer once worked at pass labs. They are all zero feedback class A designs that won't break the pocketbook. Check out the reviews at soundstage.com and audioreview.com.

OR

If you are in fact infected with the audiophile bug, save yourself the pain of shopping, buying, looking for something better and repeating the process time and time again. Go hear some Atmasphere OTL's (they begin with a 30 watt stereo model($2500+-) and then a 60 watt mono blocks($4600.00+-) and so forth. They are very powerful amps whose wattage belies their voltage and gain. You will save yourself years of shopping, loss of time, and things not associated with the enjoyment of music.

http://innersound.net/
- Roger Sanders

http://www.wolcottaudio.com/
- Henry Wolcott

Musical Design has some great products at very reasonable prices. Also do mods on hafler, adcom, etc. Just got a platinum amp and I am stunned. Don't see how you could do better even on the used market. WWW.musicaldesign.com

I don't know how "hidden" the following names are, but they certainly qualify as gems:
George Wright - http://www.wright-sound.com/
Ron Welborne - http://www.welbornelabs.com/
I have found equipment from the above to be an absolute joy at their price point.

Electronic Visionary Systems(www.tweakaudio.com). Ric Schultz uses the best parts available and, even more important, knows how to put them together. A good example is his Millennium DAC--it's got about $500 worth of premium parts(which he freely discloses) and would probably sell for around $3000 or more if made by an established company with high overhead and advertising expenses, but Ric sells it for $1050. He doesn't do any advertising and gets all his business through word of mouth, and he can't make the DACs fast enough. If you haven't already done so, I strongy encourage you to check out Ric's website which clearly states his mission and philosophy about audio products and the future of audio. In this day and age his absolute honesty, passion, and sincerity are refreshing. By the way, I've been using his DAC for over a year and am continually amazed at what this product does for my system and the music.

Tim