dekay and glennewick, I enjoyed the post on Hovland and their practices in making amps and preamps. I think I might fall into the kooky audiophile category. My Sonus Faber speakers are tuned by ear, not by specs. Although Paul Bolin gave the Hovland Radia a fantastic review in Sterophile, John Atkins measurements were not nearly as good.
I've been an audiophile for a long time and I've learned to trust my ears. When the Sonus Faber speakers were demoed they were compared to a similarly priced Vienna Acoustics speaker. I could hear that the Vienna Acoustics speaker was cleaner and probably would have measured better. But I fell in love with the Sonus Faber speakers. Audiophiles usually fall on one side of this argument or another. I go by how equipment sounds to me.
I think the Paul Bolin review, which I posted in part under my first post, is right on. Hovland made a fantastic amp. I've decided to keep it until I can hear a deterioration or until it breaks. Then I'll audition Pass amps.
Thank you for weighing in.