Heck of a story;. Glad things worked out for ya in discovering new worlds. going where you had not ventured before!
My first few rigs ended up sounding quite similar though with bvaried SS pieces.
then half and half HS & SS.
then came the ‘all in’ idea on a 100% hollow state power train and my world changed utterly. in a very positive way.
suddenly, life happend as it tends to do. crack heads. home invasion attempts. then downturns in orthopedic health. it al made what was on hand vanish, almost entirely and all for security’s sake..
a few more episodes in health and senseless delays in due process.
then in that period I got to see what several other’s in my area had erected for themselves, here and there.
it all has been educational, and eye opening on numerous fronts.
the tube amps alone set up the notion ffor using other tube amp topologies than ultralinnear or sET EL34s and then came my AG Unos, AG D
Duos, and later, other horns.
the 2019 FLA show aided and added to my horn education. aG showed later ver of aG Uno w/powered bass unit, and its trios. I was not enamored and lent it towards the particular setup or musiccal choices in play for whatever reason.
Classic Audio horns of them all grrabbed me most. a friend owns original Klipschorns and they are interesting in spite of being 30 years old.
the unsettling aspect for me is knowing there are untold ways and means to get a piece of audio heaven in your listening room but feel to date tubes are the mile markers for me to follow on the high way to fun in audio land.
the particular ingredients freemain to be seen, and I supppose that is where the intrigue and interst which compells me is imbedded.
guess its true as Kipling said, life is not a riddle to be puzzled out, but a mystery to be lived.
THX
JIM