I owned an Avatar Special Edition for five years, just sold it last month to move to Air Tight Monos and pre.
Avatar SE (EL34 based) was the most musical integrated I've come across, and I demoed all of them (Cary, Manley, MF, BEL, Unison, Pathos etc). I didn't listen to the Super until after I bought the Avatar, and I wanted the SE because it could run in triode. Over the 5 years, I was tempted a few times to part with the Avatar, even buying a WAVAC MD-811 SET integrated, but every time I compared, the VAC just kept winning me with its musicality.
The Super had much better bass and more "oomph". It had that great VAC sound (you know it when you hear it, rich, musical, not syrupy or slow, great PRAT) but the Avatar SE in triode had just more "reach out and touch" SET like presence. I had many a night into the wee hours, and the only good thing about selling it was getting a better nights rest.
A couple of thoughts: I really, really, really hate the Shuguang tubes VAC used in the Avatar SE, and found much better, more dynamic and musical sound with using EH power and linestage tubes and JJ linestage tubes (the 12AU7's). Also, I found that using CArdas RCA caps got rid of stray RF sounds (I actually picked up a radio station once!). Tweaks included using Herbie Halo's on the input and phono tubes, and using Final Labs Daruma isolation devices. Finally, the biggest tweak besides tubes was upgrading the power cord. A Cardas Golden reference worked well, but a Foundation Research LC2 worked better.
I like my AirTight gear, but if I could have swung it, I would have kept the VAC too, as it was one of those pieces of gear you probably regret selling.
