I'll just toss this out there for consideration.....some will agree, some will disagree, but here's some hardware that's caught my eye as of late. Good for discussion, of nothing else....
Old school - Bob Latino is making upgraded clones of the old Dynaco tube amps and they have earned quite a reputation in the audio community. I'm drooling over one of his ST120 kits, but the assembled price is completely reasonable. If a guy wanted to go down the tube audio route, I think his amps and preamps are very worthy, very affordable, and well worth a look. I would not be surprised to find a ST120 here running my very efficient Bob Crites modified Klipsch speakers, one of these days:
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/home.html
Opinion time - and a word about power. Power is everything; power is clarity, depth, detail, and accuracy. Power is NOT just for volume...!! My good friend, the grammy nominated recording and mix engineer has some 400 WPC amps from Yamaha in his studio that are his preferred amps (no longer being made). He uses one for his tiny on the console speakers, and two more to bi-amp his custom Auspurger main monitors. Yes, 400 WPC to small 8" two way speakers. The Auspurgers have 15" TAD woofers, 3" TAD beryllium compression drivers for the high end, flat out to about 22 KHz. Why 400W for a 120W driver or a small 60 watt 8" two way speaker..?? If you ever have the fortune to hear such a system, you'll understand why. The clarity and transient response is breathtaking, even at conversational volume levels.
The tube amp guys will snicker and call BS on this. They have a valid argument......to a point. IMHO - the guys with these little esoteric and stupid expensive 2 or 3 watt amps are just....wrong. Even with speakers as efficient as Klipschorns, that's just not enough. With my Cornwall speakers, 60 WPC in a fine tube amp would be very, very interesting. But, make no mistake, IMHO with some speakers that's just not enough. For a 'new school' high end amp, you want at least 200 per side, for the reasons mentioned previously.
One man's opinion......
New school - I've had the fortune to listen to a number of amps over the years, in audiophile and studio (control room) settings. McIntosh amps are wonderful, but the prices as of late seem to have taken off to stupidville and beyond. If you can find a solid used MC2205 or MC2255 and a McIntosh preamp (C32, C33's are wonderful) you'd really have something special. I sold McIntosh for a bit over a decade, and I used to own a MC2205 and a C28 pre-amp. As an aside, I currently own a McIntosh C504 preamp and a MC502 power amp. They are small units, no longer made, and clearly violate my power rule (50 WPC). But, they are nice, and I'll keep them until something bigger comes along. With my hyper efficient Cornwall speakers, they are good, but I know there's more in there. Nothing a new Bryston wouldn't fix right up.....
If I were going to buy new the amps and preamps from Bryston are ones that have my eye as of late. The new 4B3 is an amazing amp. Bad news is that the prices have almost hit McIntosh territory. If you could find a 4Bsst2 or even a 4B....you'd really have something. Bryston amps have 25 year warranties and there are stories of amps being refurbished by the factory at little to no cost to the end user. Their BP6 pre-amp is as simple as it gets and sonically correct. If you want more knobs, I'd look for a good used McIntosh C32 or C33....they're out there and don't cost a fortune.
http://bryston.com/products/power_amps/4B-3.html
Wild card - There's a new generation of power amps, typically used for professional applications (PA / concert sound) that have gotten amazingly good. Crown has been doing traditional amps and preamps for years. I've worked in many, many studios that had Crown DC300A power amps running the mains...they've been at it for years and are a well respected brand. This new generation of switching power amps break most of the old school rules, and perform well outside their 'weight class' and compete quite favorably with amps that cost 5X and more of their cost. They are talked about in a couple of the AV forums I follow, people are typically flabbergasted with their performance. You can get a Crown XLS2500, with DSP based crossover and peak limiters included, with 44oW per channel into 8 ohms (775 into 4 ohms) for.....$399.00. Amazing.
https://smile.amazon.com/XLS-2500W-XOVER-LIMTR-120V/dp/B003HZV2OI/ref=sr_1_1
I'd think a Tubes4HiFi tube preamp, with a Crown XLS2500 power amp, would be an amazing system to try.....hint, hint.....
As I'm fond of saying, one man's opinion.......B.B.S.