Not all valve amps sound "warm". Before I bought the Puresound I tried a
Melody which is Australian. It was harsher than a very harsh thing, it nearly made my ears bleed. One of my mates heard it said that must be voiced for listening to Inxs at max.
Good luck with the Icon - it should partner your Spendors well.
Reminds me of my own search about 3 years ago. Having tried quite a few modestly high end set ups in demo labs including some of the brands here, using my own reference material from synth, through choral, chamber, to piano solo, it dawned upon me the feeling that I had the last time I went through this. Exceptionally clinical (detailed the 'experts described them). F++cking harsh in my own terms.
Fortunately, sat amongst a chamber orchestra soon after, and that simple experience reminded me of the richness missing.
Well, we all have listening preferences, and indeed different auditory responses. I might be quite aged but the frequency sensitivity isn't too bad.
Fortunately, sat amongst a chamber orchestra soon after, and that simple experience reminded me of the richness missing.
Then I recalled that Marantz were always considered a warm interpreter of digital formats, so I sought out some Marantz's to listen to.
So I saved meself £10,000