Thanks Paul for the rundown. There's a Gryphon amp in my voltage for sale on the Audiogon that I'm considering. I'm also considering Macs for their reliability as well as ease of repair over here. I could buy a pair of Pass 100.5 amps as well. Most of these purchases would have to be online. Prices of new equipment here with the import and shipping charges are exorbitant. Like the Altos, I will have to buy used. Naturally, I prefer colder running amps due to climate, but I can probably work with warmer ones for about ten months out of the year. I think I'm going to pass on the local Emitter due to age and cosmetic issues. This one came out before the 2005 upgrades, and I don't think I'll bother wasting the dealer's time on it. If I buy an Emitter it will be from outside the country on my voltage. Still no luck yet on finding Accuphase gear to test. I might have to abandon that one.
Regarding your other comment: "...when buying 10k components, any dealer will be willing to bring them to your home and install them into your system and will most likely also offer a 10% discount on top of that. I am sorry to hear the situation is much more different in Korea I certainly did not expected that." They're not going to do that for used equipment, and unless you are wearing a suit and a tie when you drop by, they're not going to waste a lot of time trying to earn your money. I've encountered a few decent dealers but I didn't like their equipment with my music--Dynaudio for example, or Dali for another. I'm also, as you may have noticed, not an ethnic Korean, and that factors in as well, though I do speak some of the language. The seller of the Accustic Arts amp was rather surprised last Friday when he saw me pull out a large wad of cash ready to buy the amp that was already gone. Now, he feels bad and is going to try and find something that might appeal to me. I guess the lesson for dealers, used or new, in any country is never underestimate a potential customer. You might just end up losing a very likely sale.
I would suspect that while the MF Tri-Vista 300 has a similar sound to the A5 gear, my amp is significantly better. I was first drawn to the MF gear with a pair of Micro Utopias at a dealer that was using an older MF A308 amp and a Tri-Vista DAC. To me at the time, that sound was quite magical, and I was sold on the Micros and ended up trying to buy them as well. Sometimes I regret not getting those instead of the Altos--reasons of moving for example but also the reasons you listed and the possibility of other options for amplification. I would have gotten them new over here, but the dealer was stubborn that we pay in cash rather than card in order to get his special price. I heard the Diablos at a recent show with Bryston amplification and I was very, very impressed. I have plans to eventually build a small, second system for my wife that may include used Micros with a Jadis integrated for our downstairs space. Or I may get Usher monitors instead.