Seems like the best "upgrade" for tube amps....

Well Frank at Van Alstine also says all caps, wire, parts etc... sound the same as long as they meet spec. I was close to buying some gear from him until he went off on that subject. I quickly realized while he is a great designer, he does not understand some other things that impact sound quality. Like worm up!

Grannyring, Frank has brought to market some very
interesting designs and appararently he has a good
following, you don't see too much of his gear for sale on
the used market very often. But I would have to disagree
with his statement that all parts sound the same as long as
they meet specs. When I owned an Audible Illusions preamp
and had some of the caps in the signal path upgraded to
Mundorf caps, the end result was nothing short of
spectacular, the improvement was dramatic.

As far as warmup times this does vary from one manufacturer
to the other depending on design. For example if you look at
the Odyssey Stratos, many people for the price love it but
the biggest complaint is that this amp takes forever to warm
up and sound its best. No wonder the power switch is located
on the rear of the amp.

Grannyring, that's why I sais I WAS dubious.
My ears know 10 minutes is all it takes on my AVA 450 .
FWIW, I never met anyone I agreed with on everything.

QuickSilver, VTL or Manley poweramps operate in 5...10min according to the measurements I've done in the past with analysing bias and transient responses via oscilloscope.
If I play same record first in 10m and then play it again in half-our, it might seem to sound different and so is CD. If I turn off the poweramp no matter tube or SS and turn back-on and after the settle time play the same, it will sound different again(actually that's the case of the most of improvement I've experienced).

Frank is a wonderful designer and like many skilled designers they simply don't have the desire or curiosity to try and experiment with "boutique" parts assuming they are a rip off sold to unsuspecting novices like me:)

I have owned one of his amps and heard his latest top model. Very good sounding for sure. He knows his stuff and I just wish he was more open minded to learn and give due diligence to "boutique" parts.

I have heard the same distain for upgraded parts, wire, tweaks etc.. from other very gifted designers. I suppose it is hard for them to find the time or passion to fully dive Into this world. I understand. So much to learn and experiment with and it is so hard to be expert in all things.

Schubert, yes your comment was understood and my comments are not all all intended to poke at you. I would also be dubious of that statement and may still be :)