Through my friends and colleagues, I've played through Cat-5, Suhr, Diezel, Mad Professor, Dumbledores, Friedman, McIntosh, Tone King, Two Rock, Trainwreck, Mesa, Engl, Fargen, Victory, Magnatone, Milkman, Shaw and even an obscure VanWeelden.
These are no doubt fine amps, but out of all of them, the only one that truly impressed was the Engl Inferno.
Another interesting thing about many of these high dollar amps is, you see things you wouldn't expect on a high dollar boutique amp...things like less than stellar soldering, poorly folded/uneven tolex, crooked screws, just all those little things that show an oversight or a lack of attention to detail.
I think that once some of these builders make a name for themselves, they get comfortable and the QC is just no longer important to them.
Now for most people, they are so enamored by the name and the price tag that they will tolerate - even worship - anything that a given builder offers, but I'm not easily impressed by the nameplate or the pricetag.
I'd rather have an amp built (or modded) by a grass-roots amp guru, like our
@ivan H,
@syscokid or
@Amp Mad Scientist, TBTH...
