Top Tier Amps

I just went through the whole thread and honestly don’t know why.
At first glance it’s a “expensive is best” tier ranking but admittedly that got water down to more realistic criteria .

If I’m being honest having gone through the many suggestions on all tiers it’s been fun to be remember that I had a bunch of the manufactures through here.

One I don’t see , and likely brand recognition plays into this is Gamut. I have had their limited edition integrated and for a short period their monos. If sonics were the only criteria they would certainly be up on the list.... excellent amplifiers.

However the roller coaster stopped in its tracks when I heard a stereo amp from a niche inside of a niche builder at a friends house . I contacted a dealer in Canada and asked if he could get the St Louis builder to custom make a set of monos for me

The hidden genius of Wilson Shen from Clayton Audio built me a spectacular set of his M200’s and I have the amps that he has now determined is the lasted greatest iteration of that series

From a guy that has had and spent multiple times the money on amps I can say they are the best sounding most dynamic Claas A amps I have had through here....

They won’t qualify for this list no doubt but , after 40 years of amp roller coaster I have never been happier
 
ADCO said:
I just went through the whole thread and honestly don’t know why.
At first glance it’s a “expensive is best” tier ranking but admittedly that got water down to more realistic criteria .

If I’m being honest having gone through the many suggestions on all tiers it’s been fun to be remember that I had a bunch of the manufactures through here.

One I don’t see , and likely brand recognition plays into this is Gamut. I have had their limited edition integrated and for a short period their monos. If sonics were the only criteria they would certainly be up on the list.... excellent amplifiers.

However the roller coaster stopped in its tracks when I heard a stereo amp from a niche inside of a niche builder at a friends house . I contacted a dealer in Canada and asked if he could get the St Louis builder to custom make a set of monos for me

The hidden genius of Wilson Shen from Clayton Audio built me a spectacular set of his M200’s and I have the amps that he has now determined is the lasted greatest iteration of that series

From a guy that has had and spent multiple times the money on amps I can say they are the best sounding most dynamic Claas A amps I have had through here....

They won’t qualify for this list no doubt but , after 40 years of amp roller coaster I have never been happier
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Didn’t the chief designer/founder for Gamut leave and join Raidho and then go on to Gryphon?

Glad you’re enjoying your Clayton Audio. The challenge is, if you ask 100 audiophiles about Clayton Audio, I’m pretty sure 99 have never heard of it, and that one might be thinking Spatial Audio (Clayton Shaw). So, it’s a little difficult to rank and that’s the point of the list, but I’m glad you like it and I’m sure it’s good.
 
You are correct Mike, I don’t actually know if Gamut is still doing anything other than speakers since the designer left... dam good amps though

And.... agreed on all points with Clayton.
They are obscure beyond a doubt . What has been great is that I didn’t feel the need to sell anything to help fund the purchase as they are (relatively) in expensive in quality amplification terms.

They are the only amp i have had in here that I literally stopped listening too or for

If that makes any sense what so ever
 
ADCO said:
You are correct Mike, I don’t actually know if Gamut is still doing anything other than speakers since the designer left... dam good amps though

And.... agreed on all points with Clayton.
They are obscure beyond a doubt . What has been great is that I didn’t feel the need to sell anything to help fund the purchase as they are (relatively) in expensive in quality amplification terms.

They are the only amp i have had in here that I literally stopped listening too or for

If that makes any sense what so ever
Click to expand...

Makes total sense and as I’ve said many times, I myself have Tier 3 stuff. Heck, after spending so much time on the NAIM groups, I’m thinking more like Tier 4. LOL.

I remember talking to another dealer years ago and when GAMUT came up, he just looked at me and said “the stupidest name in audio. The name kills them.” It always stuck with me. But agreed, they made some really good stuff. Many times, they were best of show.

Maybe we need a list: “where are they now?” So many companies just fall off the radar. It doesn’t mean they don’t make great stuff, they do. But they just fall off the radar. Ayre, CJ, Krell to name a few. Would make for an interesting conversation. DynAudio for example was riding high about 10 years ago. Now? I never hear a customer mention them as even an option. And they DO build great speakers and build their own drivers. What causes the fall from grace? I see Revel starting down that path as there is no real replacement (yet) for their much beloved Salon 2. Do companies get distracted? Lose their core focus? Or is it more a tribute to the companies with such incredible staying power like Pass, Shunyata, McIntosh, B&W, Focal, Magico, Wilson? These are the names that come up CONSTANTLY, among others. But I haven’t heard much about Revel, DynAudio and many others in the last few years. I would imagine it all comes down to the sheer expensive of R&D and marketing. Must be astronomical. Can’t cut corners on either.
 
Mike said:
Makes total sense and as I’ve said many times, I myself have Tier 3 stuff. Heck, after spending so much time on the NAIM groups, I’m thinking more like Tier 4. LOL.

I remember talking to another dealer years ago and when GAMUT came up, he just looked at me and said “the stupidest name in audio. The name kills them.” It always stuck with me. But agreed, they made some really good stuff. Many times, they were best of show.

Maybe we need a list: “where are they now?” So many companies just fall off the radar. It doesn’t mean they don’t make great stuff, they do. But they just fall off the radar. Ayre, CJ, Krell to name a few. Would make for an interesting conversation. DynAudio for example was riding high about 10 years ago. Now? I never hear a customer mention them as even an option. And they DO build great speakers and build their own drivers. What causes the fall from grace? I see Revel starting down that path as there is no real replacement (yet) for their much beloved Salon 2. Do companies get distracted? Lose their core focus? Or is it more a tribute to the companies with such incredible staying power like Pass, Shunyata, McIntosh, B&W, Focal, Magico, Wilson? These are the names that come up CONSTANTLY, among others. But I haven’t heard much about Revel, DynAudio and many others in the last few years. I would imagine it all comes down to the sheer expensive of R&D and marketing. Must be astronomical. Can’t cut corners on either.
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Please start a new thread on this as I am sure there will be many comments to follow
 
Mike, it's funny how you mentioned Gamut and Dynaudio. Last year i blew the woofer in my 10 year old Gamut L7 speakers and it took a long time to get a replacement from Gamut, so i was loosing my mind waiting and bought a pair of Dynaudio platinum C4's. i bought these speakers based on reviews and sounded like a speaker i would love. boy was i wrong, after the first day i had the C4's i know the Gamut L7's were a better speaker. one man's smooth sounding speaker is another man's boring speaker. The C4 's just didn't do it for me, now sold. john
 
All drifting off topic but I had a set of the Gamut M5’s... dollar for dollar an excellent speaker .... I tried many many speakers and finally got to Acoustic Zen Crescendo II’s as an upgrade to my preference.... same story with the Zens it took some time and many trials to move from them and ended up with Arteluthe Stilettos ....

Audio is a journey for us weirdos
 
AudioNote? I'm not familiar with their amps but I have an AN DAC and it bested everything I tried next to it, until I retired it.

I might argue that Ayre could move up a tier. While I havent heard more than 1 or 2 of the Tier 1 amps, I've heard several of the Tier 2, including some a/b against my MX-R Twenty's and thought the Ayre better to my ear. Certainly weren't inexpensive. That said, you certainly have far more experience with these things than I ever will!
 
After living with the Block Audio amps and preamp for almost a year and directly compared to Soulution, Boulder, Gryphon, etc., I’ve added them to Tier 1.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Mike said:
After living with the Block Audio amps and preamp for almost a year and directly compared to Soulution, Boulder, Gryphon, etc., I’ve added them to Tier 1.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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I was very impressed with the Block amps when I heard them in your store. Very impressive indeed.
 
u-sound said:
market perception is close to zero, how could these jump into tier1?
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Based on Mike’s post, I am thinking he is making his determination based primarily on sound quality and build quality, although most that have listened to them have offered high praise.

Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Based on Mike’s post, I am thinking he is making his determination based primarily on sound quality and build quality, although most that have listened to them have offered high praise.

Ken
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And they are growing in popularity - especially in Europe.


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block audio is basicly unknown in europe, there is no shop who sells it, no reviews either, not present at shows, nobody talks about.
i do not doubt they sound excellent. the question is whether the criterias of the tread have changed to performance.
changing criterias has no name
 
u-sound said:
block audio is basicly unknown in europe, there is no shop who sells it, no reviews either, not present at shows, nobody talks about.
i do not doubt they sound excellent. the question is whether the criterias of the tread have changed to performance.
changing criterias has no name
Click to expand...

I don’t agree. Block is catching on. I was watching the comments on Jay’s latest video and a bunch of folks thought his amps were Block! So much for “no one” knowing the name.

Maybe YOU don’t know about them!

By the way, you’re free to start your own list and have folks debate.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
u-sound said:
the hidden brand:)
block audio amplifier – Google Suche
only block itself, soundrebels, suncoast and high-end palace

try ANY other brand and you can see the difference
Click to expand...

Guess where you live, it’s not as well known.

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Anyway, not sure what the issue is. Start your own list if you don’t agree. And I also assume you have never heard a Block audio piece?


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no, i have not heard them. i would really love to. i love amplifiers and any new and good manufacture is more than welcome. block audio is welcome and i wish them the best only.

my issue is that you are saying block audio is among the worlds 10 most percepted high end amps.
 
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