s-s integrateds just on the warm side of neutral

(1) In-home auditions:

Dealer loaners are usually end-of-business day Saturday to be returned on Monday .It should be enough time to evaluate the gear .
The dealers need to manage their inventory on hand and do not have the gear to place on loan for longer periods.

(2) Lug in your speakers or source or both to the dealer or to a buddy for an audition

This is more frequent.... More difficult and clumsy ..... sure, but better than a blind purchase gamble with a high probability of guessing wrong .

This hobby has no magic bullet solution. It requires lotsa homework and that is precisely why it is frequently referred as a journey and not a destination.

Suggested work-around

(A) Decide if the rest of your system is a keeper (for now).
(B) Asuuming "yes" for this example, then first read the reviews about, say, your speakers and/or attend the audio expos to see what the distributor pairs up with them.
(C) inquire at a your local dealer ( or a listed one if you have no local one ) to get their suggestion

This will boil down the many available otherwise blind choices a short list to navel-gaze

A mild shortcut :

List the rest of your gear and float a balloon here or on Canuckaudiomart to ask what other hobbyists run with and again solicit some blog suggestions to stress test further in this winding road to OZ

Any Hegel integrated amp will foot the bill

??? Akg_ca, he didn't ask for a cure to a problem, he asked which solid state integrated amps other members thought run toward the "warmer side of the neutral line." Nor did he even say that he was looking to buy one.

Thanks Cellorover!

Would class A Luxman and Sugden also fit in here? They seem like likely candidates.

Akg_ca: I take all of your points and do know exactly what you're talking about. If I lived nearer to more than one store, and if I had a network of audio buddies, it would all be easier.

There are early DDD recordings made by Deutsche Grammophon that are simply unlistenable on certain rigs, but not on others.

All that being said, when you audition a system and then swap out just one (any one) of the components, you often hear some kind of change. The nature of the change will be described on one or more of a number of axes: more/less space, imaging, depth, fullness of timbre, jump factor, etc. etc. One of those axes, for me, is "forgiving" vs. "relentless". I've heard it, and I've used those adjectives.