FYI, Romy had a serious confrontation with Ken Stevens of CAT at the 2002 CES so objectivity here for Romy is not certain. Ken basically threw Romy out of his room after Romy had been a very bad kitty.
i'm not trying to start anything here but history does mean something.
my opinion is that neither of these preamps are the last word in neutrality.....i am a big passive preamp fan myself. i do have friends with both units that really enjoy them. the CAT SL1 Ultimate is more neutral to my ears than the Hovland.....in other words you can 'hear' the sonic signature of the Hovland more in the system.....a good thing?....a matter of taste. many people love what these preamps do in their systems.
i'm not trying to start anything here but history does mean something.
my opinion is that neither of these preamps are the last word in neutrality.....i am a big passive preamp fan myself. i do have friends with both units that really enjoy them. the CAT SL1 Ultimate is more neutral to my ears than the Hovland.....in other words you can 'hear' the sonic signature of the Hovland more in the system.....a good thing?....a matter of taste. many people love what these preamps do in their systems.