I owned a few 535s (formerly my main amp years ago with the Adcom tuner/preamp, also used one as a recording studio amp and their great as a utilitarian extra speaker amp) and after moving on and selling most of them over the years I was down to a 535II (more standard binding posts) and a clean 5300. I think the 5300 is under appreciated and I wound up keeping it over my last 535 as it simply sounded better. Now it’s a backup/SS reference amp that drives outdoor speakers and is simply a killer amp. Note that clean versions are still around and are very inexpensive on the used market. Highly recommended. I also owned an Electron Kinergetics Eagle that developed issues and I traded it for an Acurus A250 that also had issues, although covered by warranty. That led to another couple of 535s, including the MKII, and a Forte Model "55" which was a great amp. After that it's all tubes (the 5300 being the exception).
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