Best amp under $6k, in your opinion?

Tvad,

I understand. Wonder if Paul offers a trial period? I don't know. The few owners I know all share my "over the top" comments and shock over this amp.

Bill

I was given a money back offer on my D-225. There was no need to take them up on it.

It is a great amp that can handle difficult speaker loads. The transparency is amazing. I think the leap of faith for me was more about the TRL house sound. Having had a TRL digital mod done to my DAC I got a taste of their house sound before I bought the amp. The question for me was how much more I could handle. It's a quite addictive sound, especially when you add more TRL components and cabling to the mix.

You don't see these amps come up used for a reason. I sold mine by word of mouth. Saving up for my next TRL project. Battery powered monoblocks.

I can see how my reasoning might not make sense (not that I've ever placed a high value on reasoning). I could have held on to the D-225 (sold it to another TRL family member). Ultimately I wanted to try something different (not to mention I got the VACs for a price I could not turn down). I've always been curious about VAC and in their own right, and especially with my Audiokinesis Stormbringer speakers, the Auricle MB-70s sound great.

It will be awhile before I can pursue the battery powered momoblocks and I have two other projects I'm working on (building a TT and getting back into analog and digital tape). So as you can see variety is the spice of life for me.