Stereo5
It's interesting you mentioned "went back to McIntosh solid state which is almost as good as tubes but not quite."
I had a Mac SS C-45 pre and MC-402 SS power. I bought a Rogue Pharaoh hybrid integrated amp in an effort to downsize for a large move I was making. Long story short, the Rogue crushed the Mac combo. Took all of 20 seconds of listening. IMO.
It's interesting you mentioned "went back to McIntosh solid state which is almost as good as tubes but not quite."
I had a Mac SS C-45 pre and MC-402 SS power. I bought a Rogue Pharaoh hybrid integrated amp in an effort to downsize for a large move I was making. Long story short, the Rogue crushed the Mac combo. Took all of 20 seconds of listening. IMO.