Review of the Cary sli80 integrated amp over at Positive Feedback. $2800 gets you tank-like build quality and switchable pentode and triode modes. For aspiring tube heads, pentode (aka ultra-linear) offers higher wattage (80 watts in this case) while triode offers better sound but fewer watts (40). Quite the conundrum, isn't it? The Cary sli80 sports live switching between the two modes. Here's how it sounds:

Switching to pentode brought more drive, but the slightly glassy sound from mid-treble upward was consistent with all of the speakers I tried, and the loss of intimacy and tonal richness was simply too high a price to pay. High-efficiency speakers are mandatory to get the best of what the Cary has to offer.

In my experience, the above results hold true for any amp that offers switchable modes. Pentode manhandles the speakers while triode is butter. Manhandling isn't bad, mind you, but triode always seemed to be the preferred flavor. After listening to an amp like this, I can't help but to feel I want the best of pentode and triode in one package.