@soix: thank you! I expected the amp to sound good when it came back, but what I got was even better than I had expected. Unfortunately, I don't think I can give you the answer you're looking for; I just don't know how to phrase it any better then saying "when a note on a piano or guitar is struck, I want it to sound like the instrument is there in my room." I'm not a fan of tubes (or at least I haven't liked the ones I've heard), because I always find the highs to be muddy or muted. I generally like the sound of good solid-state systems, but not those that make the music sound unnatural, or brittle. I think it comes down to what the Supreme Court said about pornography: "I'll know it when I hear it" -- but without a handy public listening room (as we used to have in NYC), that's not as easy or affordable as I'd like. Sigh...