The thing about the sound of a system in this case a new amp is a sound with its use in his system, within his room acoustics, his power cords, etc. The same amp in my system might sound much different due to what I mentioned. Same amp could sound warmer or brighter in another system, then of course the preamp used would also make an impact.
I know that is the generally accepted wisdom, and, for the most part, I subscribe to it, though I think I do so purblindly, as I've not really heard enough of the same gear in different rooms, with different cables, preamps, etc to swear to the truth of it. I have had one glaring example of it when first hearing a pair of B&W 802 Diamonds in a well-treated showroom, then hearing them (after purchasing them) in my own too small, acoustically inadequate room. That was something of a shock. A small amount of treatment made a huge difference, but it was a lesson in showroom vs living room. I've also had the opposite experience. The Valhalla I heard at the Spatial Audio shop is the same Valhalla (not literally) I now hear in my living room. So, while we justify and make allowances based on differing equipment and circumstances, unless those differences are especially egregious (as in my showroom vs living room experience), I'm left wondering (and I know this is bordering on hifi heresy) just how significant or pronounced those differences really are. I suppose once you've introduced such a vague qualifier as "especially egregious," you've rendered the possibility of coming to any universally recognized conclusion pretty much nil. Anecdote is a powerful but unreliable measure. Then, that's part of what keeps the audiophile ball rolling.
