There is only one way to know for sure. You guessed it you must hear it. Butler is successful but i have no personal knowledge of their sonic attributes. It appears to be a step in the right direction. Cary Audio makes some 5 chanel amps but are SS. I haven't heard the either. The solution is to get your pre pro of choice and hook up 5 expensive tube monoblocks for the amplification. I use Consonance Cyber 800 monos and they are truly wonderful, even won some awards but the Sinophobic audio community has virtually ignored them. You can buy them used for as little as $1K-$800 a pop today. They retailed for more than twice that and they sound really great with the stock tubes. If you get into it you may want to roll the small signal tubes 6922 and 5687s. You can start by using them as stereo speakers with your pre and see if you like them. (you will) leave the stock power tubes in place but do get the Cardas ICs Golden refs or ___, between your pre and and the amps. I can hear them now I bet you will like it a whole lot.
