Thought I'd chime in w/ a suggestion from something I owned for a while. It doesn't actually use tubes though: Empirical Labs Distressor. It's an aggressive-sounding (colorful) boutique compressor w/ a harmonics generator in it for 2nd order distortion (tube) or 3rd order (tape saturation.) Sounds fantastic. Expensive as hell though, hence "something I owned" as opposed to "own"... sold it to fund a Future Retro XS.

Check it out though if you're interested in an alternative to tubes that sounds just as good. :)

I've had some great luck with the Bellari RP562 Tube Exciter. It was only $350 ($400 with the mods).



I've even modded mine with better tubes and op-amps. Here's some pics and a little review I did with sound examples.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...php?p=32289228

Do you have any audio clips plaid? How is the spectral audio too?

There's a little info and some audio clips from the Bellari here:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...php?p=32289228

The Neptune 2 is one awesome synthesizer and a hell of a good value if you can find one. I've heard they're kind of scarce right now. If you're interested, try contacting www.novamusik.com and see when they expect more in.

Here's a couple clips of the Neptune just doing its thing. No serious arrangement here. just some arp loops I was tweaking. The second one has some reverse delay reverb from an Eventide Eclipse:

http://audio-kinetic.iswiz.com/plaid_emu/neptune.mp3
http://audio-kinetic.iswiz.com/plaid...ne-eclipse.mp3