I don't know much about their amps... I just have all kinds of confidence in EJ and crew. He told me that the control levels at lower volume is about the same as the old amps, just the new ones do go a lot higher.
The gain on the amp is a tad annoying but not terribly so. I have plenty of control at low levels, especially with the Rothwells inline. But it is oh so good sounding
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Does the DAC you're using have DSD? I know some people say they don't hear a difference, but for me it is night and day better. PCM files are a tad harsher and just a bit muddier, to my ears. Not that they are bad, but I can tell immediately when I have a DSD on. This is the case on both the Teac and the W4S DAC...
I just looked it up.... unless I missed it I don't think it has DSD. If you ever get a chance to run DSD through the system I think you might be surprised...
BTW... KEF won me over back in my old days a long time ago. I had a pair of Reference 104aB speakers... they would eat up a cheap amp but oh did they sound good with a proper amp... (not talking quantity, but quality... I had a 25 WPC McIntosh tube amp that drove them fine... this photo is Audionics mono amps)....
I found this photo of my old system a while back... oh, btw, here is a photo of that TT... my favorite, and last TT ever....