if you have an accomadating dealer, he'll let you take gear home to audition for at least overnight. an extended listening session might give you a better sense of which sound YOU prefer. a good test is whether you end up listening for hours or if you get fatigued and lose interest. the super-detailed ('etched'?) sound can have a certain "wow" factor but may not be your cup of tea over the long run... it sounds like you're unsure of what it is YOU like and you'll be better able to determine this if you can audition the equipment at home, with YOUR room acoustics, and YOUR other components. hi-fi showroom demos are only useful up to a point!
Mac gear "Slow" or others "Fast"
When auditioning amps I A/B'd Mac and Classe models and noticed the Classe's were more immediate. Classe bass had more impact, but also decayed much quicker. At that time I assumed the Macs were slow and bought Cam 350's and Para S8's. Since then I've heard much of the community agrees that Mac gear is slow, however I'm now questioning that. Mac tells me others up the gain a bit to "pump-up" the sound and that they(mac)present the original track as recorded. Opinions please? I'm trying to decide on a pre-amp- MacC200 or ML320s. Great forum! Thanks