Is all the hype warranted

I've been down this road...

I was very interested in Decware so I called the company to inquire. I got their voicemail and after a few days, someone called me back. After answering a few questions, they told me the wait list was 2 years - that's just not going to work for me. So I called Raven Audio (my "plan b") and again got the company's voicemail. 45 mins later the CEO of the company called me back. We had a great conversation that ended with him inviting me to audition their gear in person with him (he also asked me to bring any other speakers/amps I was considering so we could A/B test them on the spot). After taking him up on the offer and hearing their gear (and bringing a McIntosh MA252 with me as a reference), I went with Raven and never looked back. My Osprey LE and Corvus Reference Studio Monitors are an endgame combo. You will not be disappointed. At all.

As someone else in this thread has already eluded to, I would go with a Blackhawk or Osprey. The Nighthawk is good, but the Blackhawk and Osprey have Raven's upgraded components.

A year later I was ready to upgrade my phono stage and I was once again tempted to go the Decware route. But again, 2 years is not an option for me, so I went with Quicksilver. It sounds so good. Maybe Decware is truly something special, but I do not regret going with Raven Audio and Quicksilver for my tube amplification needs. There are world-class alternatives out there that don't require you to wait 2 years just to see how it may sound. Just my two cents. 

Good Luck!

Another good option is Aric Audio for a tube pre and amp…for solid state Jeff Rowland….

I've owned three Decware amps and still have the 2.3 watt UFO with Omega jr. 8 speakers in a rather small office. For the money and before the insane lead time they were a good place to begin in the low watt set world. As silverfoxvtx stated, the Aric audio stuff is a great option for a bit more $$. I have the Aric 300b and preamp and it's another level altogether.

I would find it very hard to describe a triode strapped pentode as a SET, but we all have different perceptions.

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.