Top Tier Amps

wow, great thread, amazed to see Spectral, up there, by some as tier 1, as a spectral owner love the sound, but agree can't get my head around their distribution, and worldwide thinking, still no thread on here though, mike and i, had a talk a few years ago, Spectral is a volatile subject, great gear but name calling was apparent, by many, in England, we seem not to be as driven as the usa, into hifi, but still have understanding of A+ brands even if we can't afford them or even listen to them, heard FM acoustics at a show waited all year to hear this brand, i know it was a show but the sound was UMM ok, with their own speakers, price was shocking, would not touch them, dealers in England want to sell you something every time you walk through the door, NO come for a talk or listen, hard sell or don't bother me, some exceptions obviously, and they are the ones that get my money, can't buy new anymore as the price is truly shocking, and used, is still a painful experience, even more so now we are out of the EU, but we can dream, :rolleyes:

I would agree that Spectral, having heard it many times is not Tier 1. I would struggle to put it at Tier 2.
 
What do you guys think of Block amps?
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Eastern Europe is not where I think of engineering prowess... and these are not inexpensive.


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When you go to Munich, you’re surprised by great stuff from all over.


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I recently purchased an Ayon preamp. I was so impressed with it, went ahead and bought the Ayon Epsilon Evo monoblock amps. I had narrowed it down to Arc, Vac and Ayon and mostly due to personal preference chose the Ayon. I am sure I would be ecstatic with any of these brands having listened to all of them at different times. I found the Ayon build quality and attention to detail is right there with my experience with Rowland equipment I have owned. One of my concerns with Ayon was all the ads on Audiogon, I am not a fan of gear that people constantly offload. However I found finding used Ayon gear was not readily available in the US and the abundance of ads where from a dealer selling new gear. I ended up buying new. Based on my experience I'd put Ayon in tier 2 but this is limited to my experience with 3 pieces of Ayon gear. I agree with Mike when he says Ayon does not have a big presence in the US.

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Ayon certainly builds quality pieces, no doubt about that.
 
Eastern Europe is not where I think of engineering prowess... and these are not inexpensive.


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its not that simple. Czechoslovakia is central Europe not Eastern, a large slice of the Czech population are considered ethnic Germans. if you like Porsche cars you'll know Dr Ferry was Bohemian which was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire but is now Czechoslovakia.
 
its not that simple. Czechoslovakia is central Europe not Eastern, a large slice of the Czech population are considered ethnic Germans. if you like Porsche cars you'll know Dr Ferry was Bohemian which was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire but is now Czechoslovakia.

But Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian-German :D... for what it actually matters :P.
 
Mike, I do not see Accoustic Arts on your list. Didn’t you mention that you had a set in the store at some point?


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Mike, I do not see Accoustic Arts on your list. Didn’t you mention that you had a set in the store at some point?


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Yes. I put them in group 3 for now, NOT DUE TO PERFORMANCE, but rather, because of market perception. Not a lot of people have heard them and those who have rank them with Pass, maybe a notch above. Let’s see if we have any comments here.

Got to say, I really don’t think PS Audio is in group 3. Truly group 4 IMO. But I’ll leave it unless others agree. Again, not a knock on performance, but rather perception.
 
Yes. I put them in group 3 for now, NOT DUE TO PERFORMANCE, but rather, because of market perception. Not a lot of people have heard them and those who have rank them with Pass, maybe a notch above. Let’s see if we have any comments here.

Got to say, I really don’t think PS Audio is in group 3. Truly group 4 IMO. But I’ll leave it unless others agree. Again, not a knock on performance, but rather perception.

I do not own any PS Audio gear, but I auditioned the BKS amp and two DACs and would concur.

Not on par with Pass or Accustic Arts IMHO.

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I think the new Pilium is knocking the door of tier 1, if not firmly seated at the table. At the Magico showroom the M9s are driven by four Pilium Hercules monos and Alexander pre-amp. This might be performance more than perception as the word isn't out fully on Pilium yet.

Not the last word in aesthetics, but it appears you can pay a premium for custom color. Picture is Leonidas integrated.

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