While American audiophile companies dominate the power amplifier business, it can be argued that no audiophile system can thrive without excellent audiophile power amplification.

Sony makes some killer amps. So does Accuphase. So does Esoteric. Audionote is another killer. They are all from Japan but sadly, these brands can’t keep company with audiophile amps from the United States. That’s why there is such a one-sided audiophile import issue with gear from Uncle Sam pouring into Japan and the Japanese eating it up despite the high prices of U.S.-based audio gear.

Top American Brands of Audiophile Amplification:

• D’Agostino Audio
• Mark Levinson
• Krell
• Pass Labs
• Audio Research
• Parasound (John Curl)
• Briscasti Designs
• McIntosh
• Conrad Johnson
• ATI

The Japanese are massive consumers of audiophile electronics but nobody makes better audiophile electronics than the United States and that’s unlikely ever to change.