Teajay:
I'm sort of in the opposite boat. I have an AA Drive 1 which I use with an MBL 1511F DAC. The DAC replaced an Audiomeca Enkianthus X. I absolutely love the MBL and it is pure magic in my system. I have not compared it with the AA tube DAC, but I am so impressed with the MBL that I would encourage you to do an in home audition if the opportunity ever presents itself. I must tell you, however, that the MBL took > 100 hours to fully break-in and I'm not so sure it has even hit stride yet.
I'm sort of in the opposite boat. I have an AA Drive 1 which I use with an MBL 1511F DAC. The DAC replaced an Audiomeca Enkianthus X. I absolutely love the MBL and it is pure magic in my system. I have not compared it with the AA tube DAC, but I am so impressed with the MBL that I would encourage you to do an in home audition if the opportunity ever presents itself. I must tell you, however, that the MBL took > 100 hours to fully break-in and I'm not so sure it has even hit stride yet.