Is all the hype warranted

It’s solid gear and reasonable value. Nothing more, it isn’t going to slay any audio giants. Leben, Shindo, Audio Note....throw a dart at their respective catalogs and you will be rewarded. I like Steve and what Decware does...it’s just a well engineered, well built product.

It depends..SET transformers matter. Alot.

When I owned Wilson Sasha 2 speaker, I had to send in my then Audio Research Ref75se for repairs. (really? who knew a blown power tube takes out a resistor? Why would anyone use a fuse anyway? Its so much more convenient to send it off for repairs). 

In a second system I had an Audio Note OTO Phono SE Signature so I thought, why not, see if any sound comes out. Zero expectations an EL84 10-12wpc tube integrated would do anything but perhaps start smoking LOL. Anyway, it was the absolute best, hands down, that the Sasha's had ever sounded tonally in my room. Its about transformers and implementation.

A couple of things happened following this experiment. I sold my Audio Research Ref stack, sold the Sashas and began sliding down into the Audio Note rabbit hole. My main system is now all Audio note, from the wall all the way to the speakers. The last non-Audio Note speakers I owned (Devore Fidelity O/20, which sounded wonderful driven by the OTO SE Silver Signature as well as a 211 Jinro tubed integrated) were displaced by a pair of Audio Note speakers with Alnico magnets.

Decware gear is unapologetically euphonic and with proper speaker matching can be end game for many. With (no OTL) tube gear, its about the transformers, implementation and parts quality. Full stop. 

SET = Single ended triode tube

@yoyoyaya your comment about harmonic distortion may apply to some very low powered SET amps with mis-matched speakers but it certainly doesn't apply to the majority of SET amps. Certainly not the one I listen to daily. It would be the equivalent of describing non-SET vacuum tube amps as "unless all you want to listen to is varying degrees of negative feedback".