Sound of chip amps / gainclones?

I recently had some people over for a listening session and had the opportunity to hear Peter Daniel's Patek in my system. The preamp I was using was a Joule Electra LA-100 MkIII. In comparison to my custom TRL D-225 amp the Patek held its own. While it wasn't as transparent and lacked some of the detail, it drove my 88db efficient Spendor 1/2e speakers nicely. Considering the cost, this is a nice amplifier. I have dealt with Peter in the past concerning his DAC and found him to be extremely helpful and a very good designer.

Gymane, you are more knowledgable on the Patek than I am so I trust your opinion. Your example with the flea powered SET versus the high powered sold state makes sense as this is why I went solid state just recently. I wasn't about to give up my Spendor's and while my 50 watt triode push/pull did a nice job, it wasn't getting the most out of the speakers. SET amps, while recommended by Spendor (they really like the Audio Note amps with their speakers), didn't cut it for me either.

The person who owns the amp uses Audio Physic speakers with a 90db effiency rating and 4ohms impedance. Perhaps that is a better match, altough from what I have been told the Spendor's I have are pretty flat along 8ohms. I suppose this is a good example of how important system matching is.