Reactions to HP's review of Antique Sound Lab amp?

Onhwy61, although I'd probably have to agree with you about the eventual upgrade situation regardless of how a component is chosen initially, I have to take exception with the idea that buying from a review is just as good as any other way. The two may not be linked - audiophiles could simply like to upgrade, no matter how carefully made or fulfilling of expectations their previous purchase was. I have had an experience where buying a piece that was very widely well-reviewed left me in complete disagreement with the critical consensus, but since I got it used there was no problem when I sold it. Since reviewers get to listen to much more gear than I ever will (or want to), what they say can be useful, especially if you have a familiarity with their history and some gear they've covered, but I still tend to regard reviews as being best used only for guidance in choosing what to audition, if at all possible.

Rwd: You are certainly right in one respect - that your new amps may be better than what you currently have. Let's hope so!

I took some of these in on a partial trade. The amps I have were upgraded with Coincident wire and Svetlana 6550s. I have since sold them because I don't have tube friendly speakers at the moment, and I don't like having an inventory of audio stuff lying around. I can tell you that these amps were extremely impressive. I was very skeptical when I first heard them. I'm no fan of HP, but I think his review of the Hurricanes is pretty accurate.

Any comments or experience with the reliability of these amps? How about biasing problems?
There are some interesting comments and thoughts from the controversial author, Anthony Salvatore, editor of the web ezine: www.high-endaudio.com. There is a lot to peruse and muse upon therein.

Good grief, Arcangelo, I haven't ever been to that site before, but I just got back after attempting to slog through most of (speed-reading here and there) Mr. Salvatore's tete-a-tete with Michael Fremer. Never even got to the Hurricane. And never going back to that site again - even though I agree with some of Salvatore's issues with the reviewing industry, the guy is just impossible to take seriously, and even worse to try and read. Pass.

I haven't had the Hurricanes for very long, but have never had a biasing problem. Neither did the previous owner. Biasing is easy and straight forward. I didn't see any mention of biasing or reliability problems on Salvatore's site. I've read that the Chinese KT-88 is not a very reliable tube. No surprise there. The Svetlana 6550s have been trouble free. By the way, I also have a Wyetech Topaz 572(which I've also sold), so my comparisons of this amp are from an amplifier Salvatore considers to be a reference. If you have tube friendly speakers, these are probably two of the best amps you can buy. Can somebody recommend a solid state amp of equal ability? I've been a tube guy my whole life.