Nik has top notch stuff. The amps do sound a little bit different than a "real" vintage ones. They are little bit more detailed, hairy ,brighter and in your face face sounding, but they do sound amazing. Compare any Ceriatone amp to a new amp in a store for that kind of price. New amp just plain suck imho they lack character and sound cold. If you really want a "vintage" tone just replace trannies and caps and you are there. But i would replace caps first and i'm sure it would be enough
. I also noticed that newer Ceriatone sound even better than earlier ones. Not sure why but oh well...
Also even if you dont like the sound of the amp so much you can always tweak it. Sometimes you have to change some values to make the amp from sounding good to great.So all the components and tansformers talk to each other as they should. Dont buy trannies because you will think it will sound better just play with the values first because no amp is the same!!! Just get those components and trannies talking and you are set. If you have a good ear you can do it!!!
So anyway NIK has some great stuff!!!