BUI - Guilty

Meh...

@kingbarbuda,

I had tubes in the past.  I built my own tube preamp with mc phono stage back in the early 90s, and also rebuilt a pair of mono Conn tube organ amps, but only used them occasionally with my Apogee Duetta IIs.  I also had a nice Eico ST70 integrated amp in a secondary system. 

I've had solid state for a while now, as I thought that I really didn’t want to deal with tubes, but getting the Herron VTPH-2A started to change my mind.

BAT is one of those brands that I always felt made great sounding gear, but I wasn't willing to pay that much.  So I put in a bid with a few seconds left, I really thought I had no chance in hell of winning.

If it doesn't work out,  I should be able to turn a profit on it on a trade in or sale, so I'm not at all worried about it.  Or it'll at least make a good backup or second system piece.

Congrats on the legal weed and cool tube amp!  A great combo...

Yeah, it's the most effective (and cost effective) tweak when it comes to musical enjoyment. :)

Well, I don't spend what I don't have, under the influence or not.  And next on my list to upgrade was my preamp.

I have no buyer's remorse, only excitement to receive it.  It's on the truck for delivery by end of day.

I think a lot of people have gross misconceptions of the effects of weed.  Sort of like some people commenting on gear they've never heard.

I don't know if my system sounds better.  I know I connect with the music better.  I close my eyes, the room and system just seems to disappear and the music takes me where it might.

I don't like listening to the "sound" of my system, so much gets lost in the intent of the artist/writer/composer/performer(s) and I worry about stupid stuff like microdynamics, inner detail, prat, and all the other audiophile stuff. For me it's all about the emotional connection with the music.

Don't get me wrong, listening to the sound of my system has it's purpose, especially when evaluating new gear.  But I'm in it for the music much more than the sound.

Ok, I just got the BAT presmp, I only had time to unbox it.  I think I hit the jackpot..  The unit was checked out and serviced by BAT earlier this month, and the repair invoice also had a new set of factory tubes included.

Hopefully I can set it up later tonight.

I think I'm going to get small before shopping for a new amp when I'm ready.  It sure worked out great this time :).

I got in about 5 hours last night, I just couldn't stop listening and comparing.  I know the new tubes aren't even burned in yet, but what I heard last night was extremely promising.

This preamp has balls, something I would not normally attribute to a preamp.  Bass was deep, extremely tight, and fast.  That continued up through the entire spectrum.  Soundstage is much improved in depth, width, height, especially localization.  It's also dead quiet.  Pausing a digital source while listening at very high levels, the Maggie's were totally silent, even with my ear right up to the speakers.

Not at all what I expected from a tube preamp, in a very, very good way. I could not detect any deficiencies comparing it to my current preamp.

This is almost certainly a keeper, at least so far.  As an added bonus, the Harmony has definitions for all the remote functions for my hub and remote, and it even has a ht bypass function.

@jallan,

Yes, this one has definitely paid off.  I'm super pleased so far.

@performane_series,

I have Maggie's, so I'm thinking solid state.  Had a Bryston foe years, drone my Apogees really well, but a channel died so I sold it and bought a PS Audio S300 to bridge the gap until I did some other things the system needed first.

I have to say, the S300 is revealing every thing I've done to the system so far, has enough to drive the Maggies as loud as I care to listen.

Having said that My current short list is BAT and Bryston, but I haven't talked to my local dealer yet, and haven't really researched current offerings much.