@vuch I owned the Herron VTPH-2A for a while. Regardless of having ample gain in its MC mode w/ tube swaps, it will sound different when paired with a SUT in MM mode. And that "difference" is quite likely to appeal to someone who likes VAC gear and/or Tannoy speakers (me).
That said, the Herron is decidedly not a traditional tubey sounding tube stage. Even comparing just MM modes, it sounds quite distinct to (say) the VAC and Hagerman tube stages, which are sweeter and warmer (Herron being almost a tad aggressive in upper mids by comparison). The MM / SUT combo with VTPH-2A gets you about halfway to that. And I’ve had system configurations where that particular combo was "just right", though typically I prefer a more "traditional" tube stage paired with SUT.