I am very happy with the preamp and amp combination, the cd player has a few design glitches, and the speakers could be upgraded. Overall, I am satisfied for now, and I LOVE the tubes.
Like you said, you're getting somewhere, like the AMP TUBE, and the TUBE PRE-AMP, I bed it sound nice, I like the Vandersteen for now; I'm using the 3A sig, that will do me for now. Anyhow I look forward to see more upgrade on your system...... Enjoy...Enjoy