No, that's not a typo, but no, I don't truly mean "at any price" greater than US$200, I just mean this:

I recently put my speaker rig back together. The Manley Stingray -- at 12 tubes, 8 of them power tubes -- is just way too warm for a closed room in the summer. I am seriously considering getting this amp as my "summer amp". What is the next step up from that? Obviously, it doesn't have any competition at the US$200 price point, but is there something in the "not much more" category that I should be considering? It'd be nice if it was a pretty strong amp (I.E. ~> 50 Wpc). The Dynaudios suck current like a Greek sucks down souvlaki. (With apologies to any Greeks out there -- that was a Slowdive reference.) I looked on audiogon, but I didn't see anything that struck my fancy...

PS I couldn't decide if this goes in the speakers category or miscellaneous, so feel free to move it if this is an inappropriate venue.

I rather like the QUAD 909 power amp. Very gutsy, but with a smooth and liquid midrange. That's rather a lot more than $200, but still well under $1k used. That was in an all QUAD system though, powering the 988's. Not wildly good at selling themselves, QUAD - they introduced a whole new line of ESL's at the end of last year, and haven't even put up anything on their website nearly 6 months later...

Alright, I went ahead and got the A-1D -- just received it today -- it's a little more rolled off than the Manley Stingray was in the top end, but I think the bass is better. Will know better (a) in the morning when I can listen at non-sleepytime volumes, and ( after significantly more burn-in.

Offhand, I think this is a steal at US$206.74.

And OMG, do I need to get an iPod? J&R sent me a catalog that is from front to back nothing but iPod accessories. Never have I seen a product so thoroughly accessorized.