As a past owner of the Aesthetix Callisto signature, I am well aware of the tubey sound you are likely after. And with a local friend who had an updated version of the Calypso, with Mullard 10M tubes, the Calypso was not even close to the Callisto in terms of the magical 3D brought on by tubes. My Callisto was running regular Mullard and Tele 12ax7 and 6922. We did the comparison in my system and later in his. In fact, the Callisto exceeded the Calypso in every way.
So much of this has to do with a tube power supply. You can try tube rolling, and I'm a huge fan of this, but this will sadly only take you up a slight marginal improvement and little of that will relate to the bloom you're likely after.
The only products that I am aware of that fully meet all of your requirements start at the $3500 or so level and even then more likely at $4500.
So much of this has to do with a tube power supply. You can try tube rolling, and I'm a huge fan of this, but this will sadly only take you up a slight marginal improvement and little of that will relate to the bloom you're likely after.
The only products that I am aware of that fully meet all of your requirements start at the $3500 or so level and even then more likely at $4500.