Ohhhh man, don't be picking on my Haflers!
I started with some of David's mono blocks (dynaco 70's I think), and have been a fan ever since. Nice warm tube sound. I forget what dynaco preamp/tuner I had back then... I know it has some serious 'drift' problems!
As far as a nice rack
I think I have at least 5 of the DH200's, a couple of which I built (although it was more 'assembly' than build), a couple with VanAl's mods, and a pair of newer vintage XL600's. The power supplies in these rascal's is hard to beat, enough current to drive even difficult loads. Heck, I think the damping factor in the smaller amps is around 330 - not shabby by my standards. Personally, I think they were a great value for the money - and then came Rockford
Oh well. And in defense of others out there that have a fire extinguisher in their listening room (Class A fans), I built a couple of those once upon a time, although I could never find the current I liked without going A-AB.
So, why a need for current? I'm also guy that likes some of the non-traditional air motors too. I've had a a pair of the three panel Magie's (Tympani II's I think) for a long time - and absolutely love them. No arcs yet, and they have seen some work in their days. I built a DVC sub for them a few years back, which is crossed at about 38Hz, that I power with one of the big Haflers in 'bridged' mode. The combo just works - at least in my ears. To take things a little more off the purist track, I also like the Carver pre-amps (yes, the sonic hologram is 'on'!).
I played with the Dahlquist DQ10's for a while too (Turk, next time you are at Dan's house notice his speakers... they are a set of DQ10 phased array tops, the cap mods, and a little help on the bottom end from some good 'ol German Peerless 12's in a 6 cube vented box).
I also like some of the other non-traditional drivers, like the EMIT's and EMIMs (anyone have a pair of diaphrams for full emim's - I need a pair
) and the ESS AMT's, for which I would like to find some drivers that actually still have foam surrounds in tact! Call me lazy, I should just send them for new surrounds...
End of the day, it comes down to what seems right to 'me' that counts. Much like the content of these threads. Some appeal to me, others don't. Besides, the decision to invest the spare change in a Cobra gives me much more pleasure than the braggin' rights of owning a pair of amps of the same value
Besides, since the Cobra, I don't hear as well as I used to anyway...