While I enjoyed the comparison, my speakers, preamp, amplifier with NOS tubes tends to be already revealing and more transparent. My high frequency hearing is good so I’m sensitive to any edgy or overly analytical sounds. The Parsec are more rolled off than “Clear” Cygnus at the upper high frequency end of the spectrum. Granted the Cygnus were not fully broken in, while they very are nice sounding, and likely better suited for a smoother system than mine, in my case i preferred Parsec so far on “my” system and for a better synergy. If my custom designed speakers or pre/amp/tubes were more laid back, Cygnus might have been a better match, theoretically.
I’m re-learning again, and what I’ve read hundreds of times before “it’s all system dependent of course”, and starting with different speakers we all have. Your experience may vary.