Anthony Gallo uses Spectron amplifiers for the developments of his speakers and also present his speakers with Spectron amps only. This year at CES he presenteed his $17k flagship also with Spectron
My Two Cents: I drive my 3.1's with the Bel Canto Ref 1000 monos which put out 500 watts into 8 ohms. I really love this combo and highly recommend it. As mentioned earlier in this thread Anthony Gallo himself uses the Spectron Musician III which is a 600W/ch stereo class D amp (similar to the Bel Canto). The only other advice I have is to avoid using a receiver to power these speakers if you like to listen with some real volume. Prior to the Bel Cantos I was using a Rotel 1057 with 100W/ch in stereo, and it would clip at not too unreasonable higher volumes. Speaker damage is mostly caused by too little power and rarely too much.
I use a Music Reference rm-200 (100 w.p.c) in conjunction with the Gallo subwoofer amp powering the voice coils. Works very well. On occasion I'll crank up some heavy metal, and have never had a problem with too little power.
Don't know the best, but I use a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300. Silky smooth highs and solid bass. The mids are true to life with a coolish/dryish presentation. Plenty of power for sure. Typical preamp gain is 9 to 11 O'clock position. Rock'n out ear splitting Rolling Stones is 12 to 1 O'Clock with complete composure.
I've owned the Ref 3's for several years and have powered them with a Marantz SR 7200, bel canto eVo 6, and recently, bel canto Ref 1000 mk IIs. The Ref 1000 mk IIs improved the stereo imaging and grabs the bass by the gonads with an iron grip. I was weaned on watts even though I longed for warm SETs.
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