So, My two cent begins with , "Have you ever heard of (Flying Mole), amps"? I imported some of these a few years back after a friend in Japan recommended them. The one's I received were about the size of a paperback novel. They weighed under 2Lbs. and were housed in a really beautiful, single piece of "Brushed Silver finished", aluminum extrusion. With a rounded front face. Beautiful piece of gear! And at that size and weight? 160Wpc @4Ohm! They use a, "Bi-phase tech.", that they invented.
Paired with a "Schiit", "Freya", tube pre? I found that the Freya, with, "Sofia Princess, Carbon plate", type tubes sounded amazing! Alas I didn't need them as I went in a different direction. I am kind of sorry I sold them all! They were just $220 a pair from Japan at that time. And the story was that they were being developed by the top engineers at "Yamaha", in Japan when word came down that Yamaha would stay, "A/B", when it came to their component separates. The Yamaha crew quit, and started the, "Flying Mole" company. They finished the amp and debuted them to a people un-willing to embrace the tech. "At that time".
I also had a 13.6.4.3, surround system for a bit in which I used
three, "Rotel", "RMB-1575", amplifiers with allot of success. Five channels each, 500Wpc, @4Ohm, weighing in at 22Lbs. and making LESS heat than my, "Chihuahua"!
I did go to, "All tube, All the time, though", awhile back. With, "Manley Lab's", but that will eventually change.
The "ZOTL", tube amps do interest me. And since I do live near to Mr. Bern and his Company. I shall be hearing a few of those soon.