The 280/281 + 2541 is real solid. I mean you could consider a used bryston bha-1 (around 1k for a fair used price) with a crane song Solaris quantum (1.5k fair used price), berkeley alpha series 2 (2k fair used price), 2541. Or perhaps a burson soloist 3xp with a dac like a yggy a2 (1.5k fair used price), exogal comet plus (1.5k fair used price), or a mhdt pagoda balanced (or holo cyan). There are other options as well like a pass hpa-1 (2k fair used price) or xi broadway (1.5k fair used price) but you would likely need to gimp your dac to make those fit in the setup price
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Just got my Soloist 3XP in a few days ago and instantly it is the best hp amp with every hp I own with exception of the LCD3F which Pairs better with my Auris.
I haven’t rolled op amps yet and am a bit nervous as you can fry the sparkos if you don’t get them aligned correctly. Needless to say the soloist will be the last hp amp I purchase for a few years.
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