Just a quick update: I received my One.3 on Monday and since I set it up, there has hardly been an hour that I've been home and not in bed that I haven't been listening to it. I was a bit afraid at first that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and the Dayton DTA-100a, and that I would feel as though I'd overspent on this amp. The DTA-100a is a decent sounding amp (personally, I enjoyed it more than my dad's NAD), but this is better. It's been a couple of weeks since the Dayton was working, but straight away I can tell that there's more (and better) treble, and boatloads more detail and texture. There is also more of a sense of "realness" and immediacy, which I attribute to the amount of detail and texture. I always kind of assumed that it was my JB3s that were the weakest link in my system, but the Virtue is proving me wrong. There is also scads more power from the Virtue; with my previous setup, I would keep the Dayton's pot at about 1:30-2:00, with my HDP set in a similar way, and this was generally enough to fill my apartment with music without annoying the neighbors (too much). I'm achieving a similar volume with the One.3's pot at about 10:00 (compensating for the knob pointing the"wrong" way) and the HDP at 12:00. I swear the extra power (and its delivery) is also affecting the dynamic range of my system. I've never quite understood all the talk about dynamics, etc., but... I think I understand! The ability of the One.3 to go from a quiet passage to a loud one (and suddenly!) is a lot greater than the Dayton was capable of. Something I never even knew I was missing before! ( Now that I'm thinking about it, this is also something my dad's NAD is also capable of, but I always attributed it to how loud he listens to music and the number of Manhattans I had consumed.)
I should also mention that I also love the way this thing looks and feels. I almost regret that it's not something I get to handle more. It's not heavy, but it does have a nice heft to it. The volume pot is smooth and the volume increases smoothly as well, unlike my HDP. Seth actually called me to talk me out of the red and so I opted for the white; and I think it looks rather Dieter Ramsian in its simplicity. Okay, well maybe not quite, but you get my idea. It's slightly disappointing that the volume knob isn't pointing in the, uh, traditional direction, but I'm not getting my boxers into a bunch over it. Same goes for the bright blue LED. I wouldn't want to look at it in a darkened room... Actually, I don't want to look at it much at all. Too bad.
... okay, I just realized that I said I was going to give a quick update and I've gone and slobbered all over this Circle. I know I've only had this thing for a few days, but I just wanted everybody to know how pleased I am with this amp. I'm looking forward to having it for a long time.