Line Magnetic 501-a gold? any experience?

I've only heard the LM 518A, which is the other amp in the gold line, using 845 tubes. It's only 22 watts, but has enough drive to power my Merlin monitors, which aren't particularly sensitive, but present a pretty benign impedance curve. Liked it so much I bought the amp and I love it.

Haven't heard the De Capos, but from what I know of them, they're not completely dissimilar to Merlin in terms of tonality. As far as the 518 goes, I'd be careful not to partner with a speaker that's at all loose in the bass, b/c it can be a little plummy with the wrong speaker. For my little
Monitors, it's by far the deepest and most tuneful bass I've ever gotten from them.

I have the transformer hum too. My understanding is that we just have to live with it. May be a product of the power grid where we live. I wish it weren't there, but in my case, absolutely nothing comes through the speakers, and from my listening seat I only hear the hum in between tracks.

Thought I'd post an update on my experience with the LM 518. The transformer hum is gone! I've had the amp since mid February, so I'd estimate between 150 and 300 hours of play. So glad I stuck it out. Still loving the amp and just about to get serious about tube rolling. Hope this helps.