I've never heard a pair of Duos so it is certainly reasonable that they weren't the right amp for the speakers. When I heard the AEs they certainly are warm but there was no shortage of detail. With female vocals I heard those subtle sounds that sometimes get smeared with overly warm componets. Lip smacking, throaty sounds. With instruments, such as acoustic guitar they picked up the more subtle sound of fingers moving along the strings, etc. Having how highly some you speak of the Artemis gear, I look forward to auditioning one of these days.

The AEs I heard were these: http://www.caryaudio.com/products/classic/CAD211AE.html

Here is the tube compliement: 110 watts per channel in Class A/B, 70 watts per channel in Class A, all Triode tube Mono Blocks with 6CA7 current source, 6SL7 input tube, 300B driver tubes and 845 output tubes.