Tom,
In the end, I parted with the RWA AE. Here are a few considerations for you:
1. Don't bother with the stock JJ tube. It's the consensus among all of us who have reviewed the AE that it's a mediocre tube at best. Skylab and I both used a NOS Mullard tube ($95, readily available on ebay, or I can sell you mine at a discount since I have no use for it now - PM me)
Have sent you a PM.
2. I feel that the ALO cable included in the package drives the combo price to an unnecessary level. This isn't to say it's a bad cable, but there are better and less expensive alternatives. A lot of us already have good aftermarket cables. For instance, I prefer the Q Audio cable over the ALO any day - to my ears it's more musical, manifests virtually no microphony, whereas the ALO is very stiff by comparison and any rub against clothes is instantly audible. If, however, you desire a bright presentation, the ALO will do the job.
I will listen to the ALO cable and see how it performs. The Q Audio cable is on my list as an alternative. Thanks.
3. The AE shines with stellar material. I find it rather impeccable in its rendition. But if you're like me, said material represents a minority of the music library, and for the rest the AE will constantly remind you of their imperfections. I found this aspect so distracting, that I just couldn't get lost in the music.
This is perhaps the biggest issue. Fortunately, I have a Weiss Minerva DAC as an alternative, so I may just identify my best source material to run through the RWA Audeze Edition. In particular, I have been experimenting with some of the very high resolution digital offerings now being made available online. As with anything else in the audiophile domain the price increases exponentially with quality, so I am not yet convinced that the extra resolution is worth it.
4. Lack of analog inputs. One day you may get an external DAC, and will find yourself stuck with the ones in the AE. Don't get me wrong, they're good, but you're limited to them.
As mentioned above, I do have a DAC with analog inputs, so I am covered here.
Bottom line, if money were no object, I would have kept the AE as a secondary amp just for my best recording - Vinnie designed a very good amp. But since my money printer is low on ink, my best compromise is a euphonic yet detailed amp that will gloss over mediocre material while still offer a good presentation of the better.
Money is always a factor. Depending on my listening results with the RWA Audeze Edition, I will make the decision about what equipment to retain.
Please post back once you've gotten a chance to audition it for yourself; I'm interested to read your take on it.
Thanks again for your thoughts. I will probably take a bit of time to make my decision to let everything burn in properly. In the past, I have made some snap decisions which may have been premature.
Tom