Chelillingworth,
I am planning to give the VTL-IT85 a shot to see what tubes sound like with my N803s. I heard them at the dealers - it had a lush sound with a lot of presence, but sounded a tad syrupy for me. I am planning to demo that amp in my room, see if I am happy with the sound.
I am also considering investigating the Unico Hybrid - but its not available for demo anywhere near here i,e. Boston.
The B&Ws seem to prefer SS with quite a bit of power and a high current amp. So the Vecteur does look like the top choice for me in my price range.
Would you explain how the Vecteur CD Player betters the Rega ? I am planning to hear it if I go to Montreal to demo the integrated.
BTW, it is hard putting together a system - its not so much that I mind working for it, but that to demo some component, other than the heavily advertised "hifi" stuff that most local dealers seem to carry, i,e. usually a few British & American amps, is not easy. Literally no one seems to carry the French - YBA, Vecteur or Italian stuff. I like the "CableCompany's" policy of loaning out a bunch of demo cables on deposit. Maybe a company like AA could consider doing that with demo components, although with a bigger selection. I don't feel upto ordering a bunch of new integrateds, keeping the one I like and returning the rest.
I have pretty much exhausted all possibilities with the local dealers, except the VTL-IT 85.
Plodding on in search of the sound,
Cheers,
Playhard