It seems the reviewer likes amps which are light and nimble rather than lush and romantic...probably why he does not like tubes. I've never heard the H2O's so don't know what they sound like. I was extreamly impressed with the preamp from this company "The Fire"...and Fire is a good name for this baby...cause it do run HOT!...as a matter of fact, when I pulled it out of the box and saw the heat sinks running down both sides I thought it looked more like a power amp than a preamp.
Dave