Best Tube Amp under 5K

There are a pair of Sonic Frontiers Power 3 available on Audiogon for $3,500. This looks like a very good deal. I don't think you can get more power for the money - 220wpc. I haven't heard them myself, but they're Stereophile Class A (If that really means anything :-) I hear that they're neutral, transparent, very detailed, and have more of a controlled solid state sound than the lush tubey sound one might expect from tube amps. At this price they look like a deal - should keep their value well. Good luck.
Outlier

and because of the tube upgrade it has it may be more appropriate for that B&W because it will have a slightly relaxed top end. The ARC is also a fine amp as someone else pointed out but when it's time to re-tube it's not a walk in the park.

The Sonic Frontiers, and BAT that someone else pointed out, are very user friendly.

Also...read the review of the Cary V12 in this months Stereophile. That is like having a few amps in one because you can at the flip of a swith change the way the amp operates.

Full triode, 1/3 triode 2/3 ultralinear, 2/3 triode 1/3 ultralinear, or full ultralinear.

If I could have three girlfriends to pick from any given night that may be a fun thing.

>disclaimer< This is not at the expense of my beautiful 100% Italian rolling pin wielding wife.

conrad 12s , sonic frontier 3s, bat all these will make you happy.

Please don't misundertand how I mean this post, but with 5K to spend wouldn't it perhaps be better to get a different preamp rather than the ACT-3. I understand the ACT-3 to be very good for a pre-pro but not quite the sonic match for a 5K tube amp. Just a thought, good luck either way. Mike.

A pair of used Conrad-Johnson Premier 12 mono blocks might be nice. I really like the sound of my CJ Premier 11a. I also recently picked up a used Audio Research VT100MKII. It's a fine sounding amp with good bass authority and over all more neutral sounding than the CJ - which isn't a good or a bad thing. It's a matter of taste. The CJ is a bit sweeter without being too sappy. I kind of like it.