[jpgr4blu]

The sound produced by the XLFs and D'agostino electronics (amp and pre) was possibly the best I've ever heard ---the other contender being the Lamm signature amp and pre with the Alexandrias in the same room well over a year ago. FWIW, I do not like solid state sound reproduction, with the exception of some Class A.
However, the Dags are simply remarkable, liquid, excellent timbre reproduction without the occasional wiry quality that solid state can bring to massed strings. The nuance of tubes was there (if not quite the full bloom that is the exclusive provence of tubes), with the iron fist in the low end that tubes simply cannot duplicate.
This display causes me to wonder if I should buy Dag amplification and switch back and forth between an all tube system which I now have and a system with tube front end and ss amplification.
In short, the Dagostino electronics are the best solid state I've ever heard and the includes all of the main contenders except Constellation, Technical Brain, and the new Dartzeel monoblocks which I have not yet heard. I can't imagine how the sound I heard could be bettered, but how many times have I said that only to hear something better a few years later.