JohnK, of course, I left out one of my favorite amps, the $20 T-Amp. Big price tag-very imposing name-tag. You can buy a minty Kenwood KA9100 for $250-350 on ebay. Yamaha M-80s for about the same. You may have to pay a few more dollars (US) for the Integra M-504. Are these big ticket items for you? "Name-plates" with too much cachet to handle?
I also left out the Canadian made Anthem PVA 5, which I would have to rate just behind the Kenwood KA9100 in my list.
If you can't hear the difference between amps, perhaps the rest of your system lacks the resolving power for a meaningful test. I know your speakers are good enough. I figure you are so committed to your theory that you wouldn't even put the matter to the test. Anyway, those who know from experience know that your theory is inadequate.
In any case, music is better than theory, the better the amp, the better the music. Price is not necessarily a factor, neither is brand label potency.
