Thanks for the thoughtful responses.
Jinjuku, are you suggesting that the emotiva amps are colored in some way? From reviews, they seem to be quite neutral. Have you had a chance to try the XPA-1? Is the A21 more transparent?
Peng - I'll check out the Bryston, though I don't mind the larger footprint (as evidenced by the fact that I'm considering the emotiva gear even though I live in a 4 floor walk up
). I guess I want as much bang for the buck in the USD 3500 to 4000 range for a preamp and power amp.
I have an audition with the P5/A21 next week, which I'm looking forward to.