Quote Originally Posted by E-Stat
That's fine, but I will readily admit I'm a speaker guy. Have you ever heard a pair of 70s vintage MG-IIas? They are nice, but not in the same league as your 1.6s. Surely, there are better sounding amps than the 'zilla, but I would start building a system with a great speaker first. Just a difference of approach.

rw
... I.e. that the MG IIas are "not in the same league as [the] 1.6s", you might well be right.

For my part, I am a speaker primacy guy too. It's just that current Magneplanars are so good that a significant amp upgrade can be justified. I drove $550 MMGs with a $3000 Bel Canto and I don't feel I was wrong to do so even though I eventually upgraded to the MG 1.6QRs. Which gave me the most value, Bel Canto or $1900 MG 1.6? It's a hard call: they did different things.