Just to cap off, the Mullards arrived last week, they only have some 5-10hrs usage to date but I'm really happy with them already. No discernable grain and a lovely musical presentation that now makes the Shuguangs sound surprisingly coloured and mechanical. Robert Cray "Strong Persauder" album, that used to sound as though he and the band were reading the sheet music as they played, now bounces along with an infectious boogie while piano and strings are greatly improved. The Yaqin MS22B, all of $180 which makes it dirt cheap, is now a great sounding unit that I'm eager to sit in front of and I'm hoping to get a Denon DL110 HOMC in the reasonably near future.
Not sure the valves are very "hifi" sounding and they may be a tad flat for some, but they will do me very happily for quite some time. Final verdict on that will be when they have another fifty hours on them, but already I'm one happy camper.
Hal55