Tube vs. Solid State Amplifiers

Well if it isnt the super special retired at 40
 guy !!! Yay !!. Clearly you have too much time on your hands. You still have not learned to do a little background on someone before you go on bumping your gums into uncharted T and make a fool of yourself.
AGD chose me because this is a company of substance not façade. Truth and not charade. Same reason I chose AGD. It just so happened they represent the most cutting edge amplifier technology in this industry. While AGD values cosmetic as art, and decided to create the physical embodiment of their circuits within functional sculpture is something that clearly exists in the strata above your melon. (Melone in Italian) People who are passionate about music do not consider anything visual when critiquing how good music sounds. Its why the worlds Artists can look however they want. Something called freedom of expression. Clearly you feel threatened by this so you blindly lash out against it. Art freaks you out because you dont understand it. So what does your super special retired at 40 rhetoric get you here ? Jack Stool. You just missed out on what very well may be the highest performing amplifier yet experienced in HiFi. You let your unfounded, premature judgement of someone you do not know blind you. Very irresponsible and completely passe. Its Anger Management circa 1987. I can tell you right now AGD is not a brand for you. Our switching speed is too high. We have no compatible resonance. McIntosh is your amp. Its got great resale value and everybody knows what it is, right ? Yes. People that understand AGD dont require an exit clause, we know its staying. We knew it 5 minutes into listening. Parting words of wisdom to the guy in early retirement trying to understand HiFi.
The best products in this industry are the ones you’ve never heard of. By the time they become so popular, everyone knows them, its too late . The company has been sold to bankers and the product has had the soul bled from it.

If sticking a candle in the middle of an ashtray can be considered art then your spot on.

  I dont buy ANY gear regardless of how it sounds (Amp or Speaker) if I dont like the appearance as well. Not alone in that category.
   Sorry but if I owned SAKS on 5th avenue I wouldnt hire Oscar Madison to be the Clerk behind the Louis Vuitton counter.
   No anger here. Nothing to be angry about. Just observation. Cutting edge?? Product is already 4-5 years old.

   I dont own any Mcintosh gear and I havent since my very 1st purchase...live and learn.

Hate to be crotchety here but artistic expression in Industrial Design is secondary to making money. A lot of research and design by Volkswagen, Apple, etc… is to determine an aesthetic that will drive consumerism. If a manufacturer misses the mark in terms of it’s Industrial or Graphic Design, that determiner is supported primarily by a lack of revenue. Aesthetic principles however should support the functionality of the product, just as Set Design should support the play it was created for. There have been numerous times when I’ve found certain products to be less than visually appealing however they sold well and so there was no incentive for the manufacturer to change its appearance. So to each his own but for the company, it’s just a business decision.