wow. thanks for all of the response. I went to the local shop here in the Detroit area and they reccomend Parasound. You right that it does not take much to drive these. I got the Mcintosh today and I plugged on my Linn LK2 and one channel is dead... very frustrating because it worked a couple weeks ago! It is on the bay now. Since I am looking under $800... Benchmark is out of the question... maybe the Marantz?
How about Emotiva? seem to have good reviews...
Emo just ain't what they used to be!
Prices have gone up, the ability to repair out of warranty has gone down.
They also seem to have short production runs and short life cycles for most of their products. That throws a red-flag to me. A GOOD product, esp an amplifier, can and should be on the market for 10-20 years!
Parasound is generally good, but they have at least 1 lemon to avoid, the P5 had a design flaw on the volume pot!
Just FYI, I own an Emo USP-1, XDA-1, and a set of their slim BS speakers. And, I own a Parasound zCD and 1206 Amp. All great products (there are a couple of oddities on the XDA-1, but they are a moot point in my setup and application). So, I'm not just crapping on these companies, as I do like the products that I own.
