the sound is quite amazing, esp. for the price... i'm no tube expert, i've only used ss amps in the past (i've had 11)... with ears accustomed to ss sound, my initial impression was softer treble and fuller vocals... at first i thought the treble was rolled off, but later i realized i wasn't losing any detail, in fact... hmmm... the background instruments seem to be coming from deeper or farther into the wall but they are still distinct... somehow i was expecting this about a single-ended tube amp -- lots of detail and musical at the same time.
the power handling was a surprise... maybe its the oversize trafos or the super triode connection but the amp can drive my MS-908's like a higher powered push-pull amp... even some ss amps have trouble driving the 10" woofers, but i didn't lose the tight bottom end when playing a little above my comfort zone... i did get to its limit though, as i have with some ss amps.