Counterpoint, Modwright, Aesthetix sound?

We've all seen the Counterpoint breakdown. It's what they were known for. Great sounding. Did they ever figure out the problems with them? Really too bad. I wonder where they would be today if that never happened.

I am selling an affordable preamp. It's a full function quicksilver pre in great condition. I bought it over the AI as the dealer I worked with sold both those and we had the Counterpoint in with us too as he was trying it out. He was an AR dealer and Carey dealer as well. We both came to the conclusion that my Quick (we'll it's the one I walked out of the store with) was more open and dynamic. It was tighter in the bass too and it threw a huge soundstage on the Proacs (selling off those too as it's upgrade time for me). The Aesthetix is a great sounding pre and I believe a big step up from these other pre's you are looking at.

Counterpoint was great sounding stuff, however they had some major QC problems. Most of my friends who went that route ended up buying Quicksilver or AR since they are bulletproof. Which Aesthetix pre?

I think most agree that counterpoint was some of the best stuff you could get way back when. It was awesome stuff. I personally liked the Jadis stuff a TON...Counterpoint just had too many problems. It's too bad the company didn't make it. Great sounding gear for sure.

Counterpoint just blew up right when I was looking. That's why I went with Quicksilver silver monos with a full service Quick pre amp. It has been bulletproof (selling all as you know), but I was going to get Jadis within a year or two back in the day and it never happened, but kids did, lol. I personally loved the Jadis stuff back then much better, but for the cost Counterpoint was great stuff. I didn't really keep up with Elliot's newer stuff as dealers were scared off. thanks for the story.

Big, thanks for sharing and it's good to know about. The Quicksilver pre that I'm selling (sorry again for the shill) is the one that Johnny R and I are talking about. It's the first one. Full function with the 5AR4 rectifier tube. It may be the best product that Mike Saunders has ever built. To this day it sounds better than most of the tubed preamps up to 6k or so. It's in a different league than any of his newer line stage or the remote preamps. When I heard it against the more expensive Counterpoint it was very close and that says a lot. I'd love to hear them side by side, but the Quick pre is still affordable for most as used it's going for under 1k. How much is the Counterpoint going for? Not saying it's not worth it, but once you start to do the upgrades just to make the preamp work properly and to sound better, you are in the multi thousands and up and that doesn't include the cost of the used preamp itself or am I reading that incorrectly? Again, please don't think I'm not saying it's not worth it, because it probably is for the person who already has one and wants it fixed or to just upgrade.

This reminds me of why I went with Quicksilver and that AI was my second choice....price vs performance. For me I was able to get 95% or more of what I wanted and needed by going this route rather than going with Counterpoint (again I loved the sound, but worried as all my friends who went that route got screwed when they blew up and couldn't get them fixed properly...back then). AR stuff was solidly built. Company stayed around and fixed any problems and it was close in sound to the Counterpoint.

I think it's a personal thing, like anything else in audio. I wanted and still want to buy from companies that have been around for awhile with a track record of strong customer service and with products that were designed properly out of the gate. I am in NO WAY putting down Counterpoint and for you to be still upgrading and fixing their units is a great thing and I love hearing that story. Hope I haven't put foot in mouth. It's just your typical, how much is it worth to get that last percent? thanks for listening.

I agree with you Jperry. I have heard Aesthetix at Johnny's a couple of times and it was on the Vandy 7's. Sounded just awesome. Also heard the AR stuff on them and they too sounded great. Two different sounds. Most could live with either.

The Quick is sold (now he has 2 sets of Proacs and the Quick Silver mono's to sell). It will be interesting since he can put KT 88's, 120's or 150's into the SilverMonos for those who need more and more power. I would love to hear the differences other than more power. The original amps sounded really great vs the AR stuff considering they were half the cost.
After reading threads and research, I'd stay away from any of the Counterpoint stuff. I have seen the prices for the modded out gear that fixes the problems, but for that cost, I can get new that sounds amazing or used from AR or Jadis that rocks too. JMHO. I have enjoyed the Aesthetix gear as I"ve posted in the past. Tubes are just an interesting breed as they always sound different in different amps. I'm just not into the tube rolling deal like so many are. Knock yourselves out. I think at this point in my life, I just want stable, easy to maintain equipment that sounds awesome and it's the price of a foreign sports car.