Another marketing gimmick?

I'll never own an amp that uses LEDs to illuminate a tube. Fake and cynical. 

Thank you Dan D'Agostino. He started this back in the early 80's with Krell. Initially it was just thick face plates and gold screws. I would like to think his early Krell stuff sold because it really sounded good but soon other manufacturers climbed on board looking for ways to distinguish their equipment visually at least. Now if it looks good it must sound good and everything even wires got sucked in. As I have said before, all this money wasted on jewelry could have been spent on better engineering and components. We all pay for this. Pass Labs is a good example of a manufacturer who did not fall for this entirely. His designs are straight forward. He uses the same chassis parts across his model line to save money so you pay for performance. I could do without the meters. 

I wouldn't be surprised the amp sounds great. It's a $14K amp, with the latest transistor technology-it should!
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9b494-agd-productions-vivace-monos-gallium-nitride-newest-techn...

The circuit in a tube thing just seems CORNY. It's a high performance amp-great. That kind of aesthetic however, belongs to low end Best Buy stuff.
To each his own.

@nonoise Cheers and I never take anything too personally here! :)

Hey, I hope that it's a real push forward for D amps, frankly.

That tech is either lauded or dumped on with annoying regularity in the various forums, but it's already Everywhere...Your phone, the car, the tv, the laptop....anything that has to speak or sing or play sounds @ you.

It will only improve in the long run...not that A-A/B will disappear, but they're already being eclipsed....rapidly.

Yesyesyes...I understand and appreciate the 'warmth & nuance' of the tube.  The 'silk' of sound, if you will.  Combined with the 'right' components, not to easily rivaled by SS.

To the 'golden eared' amongst us, there will be no equal.

BUT....I'll wager that within this decade, it's going to get more difficult to discern the difference so quickly.  The music from behind that 'A/B curtain' will begin to fool the disclaimers.

That 'discussion' has been going on since the debut of the transistor...then, the IC....

In some ways, stuffing them into vacuum tube ought not to be a surprise.

You're looking @ what's happened after some bright sorts hooked a tv up to an early 'puter....and played PONG shortly after...

One can either get 'woke'...or prep for a coma. *G*

(Somebody buy this thing and run the cr*p out of it...that's the only way to see if it's worth getting excited about it.  Works for racing vehicles...see if it breaks, and how, and why.  Fix it, back to the track, and repeat as req'd.)

...until it doesn't. ;)