Not sure of year of manufacture of this unit. I've owned it 2nd hand for about 4 years. It revolutionised my listening.

What I found with this amp, is that if you have fabulous gear in your system, this amp will really open everything up, soundwise to a warm, organic, deep sound. I was aiming for the most natural, musical sound I could achieve. I went from a Rotel amp which was very forward and quite nice sounding, to this amp. It's chalk and cheese. The rotel is great if you've have don't have extremely high expectations of your system. Most people would love the rotel sound because it's forward, bright, balanced and in your face, where as the Dynavector, is warm, ambient, wide, deep and very musical. The sense of open space it creates is huge.

I believe some have called this amp one of the best amps ever made. As said, I wasn't looking for bright, tizzy, forward sound. I wanted to hear the body of a grand piano, warm natural vocals and instruments without fatigue. The amp is possibly a little laid back for some, especially if the rest of your system is laid back as well. I use audioquest cables throughout, no silver, just copper, which in itself lends itself to warmth and not brightness. Change your speaker cables to silver and you'll get a different sound, which is brighter and maybe more airier. I don't like the sacrifice of the warmth and space as a result. I actually have tone control in my system, which a purest wouldn't, via a cambridge audio preamp. The treble sometimes needs to be turned up a small amount. I also tend to prefer speakers that have that warm laid back sound so the tone control is necessary sometimes.