Ampzilla: your "brief A/B testing" makes it seem as though neither piece was warmed up thoroughly. By "thoroughly warming up" I mean powered on for at least 30 hours.
In solid state equipment it takes that long a time for the power supply regulators to attain thermal stabilization; any comparisons prior to that may be preliminary at best.
In solid state equipment it takes that long a time for the power supply regulators to attain thermal stabilization; any comparisons prior to that may be preliminary at best.