I recently heard a Steelhead that was not fully broken in and compared to my Whest. The Whest equaled the Steelhead when the Steelhead was operated via either its MM or MC inputs to a line stage. However, when running the Steelhead directly to my BEL amps, it clearly outperformed the Whest. The sound was pure, dynamic, and extremely detailed. Is it worth extra $4700 to get the ultimate improvements? I still have to figure that out. I will compare again when the Steelhead is fully broken in and make a decision as to whether it is worth extra $4700.
