I haven't listened to my 240DF in while so I decided to give them a try off the crown speaker outputs. All I have to say is, it sounds like listening to air. Super smooth, amazing open imaging and clean.

Besides power the output impedance probably helps too since it's extremely low at 0.02ohms on the CE2000.

It was pain in the booty though hooking it up cause the gauge wire is so thin and my amp is made for heavy gauge at the binding posts. Anyhoo,  does good job with the 240DF. Tons of headroom, dead silent background, amazing separation and so on and so on, blah blah blah...

Yamaha makes lot of wonderful amps. Lot of people around love the Yamaha p2100/p2002. It's basically pro version of the famous consumer Yamaha B2 but you'll find it lot cheaper than the b2.

Bryston I read is good as well. QSC, the USA models are best ones from them. Altec Lansing has couple under the radar power amps like the 9440a/b (or least round here they go for cheap compared to crown and qsc). I heard certain models of crest is good too. Ashly and parrauex is other brand(s) people tend to like. McIntosh is there but pricey... phase linear too but unless you do the modding it requires it'll turn your speakers into a fireplace(that's why it got the name "flame linear").

Behringer is basically cheaper made stuff of other brands similar to crown and qsc but are made cheaper and doesn't have the warranty benefits/support of other brands so if the amp goes and can't find serviceable parts you're basically screwed.

As for new vs. old. Depends I guess but lot people don't like the newer ones except for subwoofer duties due to the class d design.  People prefer the old scool lower back killer class a/b work horses for home hi-fi use. The newest you can get that uses the old school class a/b design is the qsc1500/2000/25000 and crown ce1000/2000 is far as I know. Rest after that is class d designs.

I don't know what type of connectivity matters to you but most use traditional binding posts/trs/xlr for outputs and ts/trs/xlr for inputs. I just know my CE2000 uses and accepts 2/4-pole balanced speakon connectors besides binding posts for speaker outputs.

Lot of options here and I understand the annoyance you feel cause it's like non existent finding info for home use except "yo dog, I run my crown macro 1200 on my dual 18" subs and it's banging as shit" type of stuff.

Pro amps are great too for low impedances, sound and ruggedness since they're design for hell so in home use they'll last forever definitely without ever seeing more then 1/8th of their full output in there lifetime by most people  In home use. Some even work with high voltage sources too (I remember reading an old ad for the crown d-150/300 capable driving electrostatic speakers and earspeakers without the need for a dedicated step-up transformer).

I can't really give much advice except look around and audition if you can if it's locally.

Yea, that's what i meant with qsc. I made mistype cause I use my phone. The qsc mx1500a is pretty nice amp. I have a friend that uses one for daily duty in his home cause he repairs and fixes up lot or interesting and very nice speakers. I was gonna buy his qsc off of him but I found a crown ce2000 locally for 200 so I bought that instead and really impressed with it. Only thing I don't like bout it, is it has a considerable power transformer hum in the heavy steel chassis but, I read that's normal for lot of amps. Doesn't affect my listening experience of course with speakers or headphones (I recently added a balanced 4-pole speakon connector to my akg 240DF since I keep it only for home use).

I read the older USA models of qsc is better but I don't know since I never used or heard one before on my system. The older crown d series you can get for reasonable prices (I have several d-150a series II locally for 100 bucks) but depending on power requirements for you since the 150a is rated at 95w@8 ohm but has enough headroom for transistent peaks and what people considered "missionary tough" cause heard people would throw the d150/300 off of vehicles and buildings and they'll still perform/exceed thier specifications. The psa-2 model is not well known either so you cam find them reasonable and considered the first macro before macro cause the macro's were basically updated psa2 designs with some improvements.

The ce2000 I have is a good amp. Sounds clean with tons of output. I know it has some bad rep but I think has lot more to do with idiots/user error then anything else cause my runs super cool and I driven low impedance 2ohm nominal loads fine for hours without breaking a sweat. The ce1000/2000 is only amp I know of so far with what's considered "modern hook ups" cause you have binding posts/speakon for outputs and trs/ts/xlr/barrier strip for inputs. It's made to be used with active crossovers and so forth as well.

Just look around all I can say and that magical deal will pop up. Just requires crap load of patience and consistency. I just don't know how the used market is over there for you.

Im just updating this really old thread instead of making new one.

Anyhoo, due to high praise everywhere and was looking into active crossover for future sub use I decided to purchase a crown xls 2500 to give a try.

I was set on getting their top dog crown xti 6002 class I amp but due to some issues with some bank policy for zzounds and American music supply I wasn't allowed the 12 month payment plan so I went with what I planned before and ordered the crown xls 2500 class d amp.

I got it not only out of curiosity but, it has tons of praise everywhere and it'll be useful to me due to the nice built-in crossover filters. I will not get the amp for a few days of course since I just ordered yesterday but, I have good feeling it'll be a good performer. There is no expectations of it as of now but, of course just excited due to the fact that im getting something new in the mail soon lol. It's like late Christmas for me.

I know lot people hate the idea of "class d" designs but, im pretty neutral with things and don't judge till I see/hear/use something myself.

I will let people know how it holds it own to my heavier 50lb class A a/b crown in terms of sound/clarity when I get it in hand. Im not the best reviewer of course but will be straightforward with how I feel about the performance of it. Now just the wait....