A "problem" with the stepped attenuator on the Hovland is that the steps are a bit too wide for very fine adjustment of volume (this, to me, is an issue with almost any stepped attenuator with less than 80 steps). Other than this, I liked the Hovland a lot (a friend had one).
As good as it sounds with the tubes it comes with, the sound can be substantially changed by using different tubes in the unit. By experimenting, one can probably improve the sound of the unit (what constitutes an improvement is a matter of personal taste/system matching). For my friend's unit, Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7s, particularly for the phonostage, made a huge improvement in the sound.
As good as it sounds with the tubes it comes with, the sound can be substantially changed by using different tubes in the unit. By experimenting, one can probably improve the sound of the unit (what constitutes an improvement is a matter of personal taste/system matching). For my friend's unit, Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7s, particularly for the phonostage, made a huge improvement in the sound.