Looking for an incredibly dynamic preamplifier

The most dynamic preamp which I have heard is the First Sound Presence Deluxe. However, in order to hear it at it's most dynamic your choice of tubes is important. The Siemens 6922, in my opinion, brings out the dynamics the most. A little less dynamic, but also less ragged in this pre is the Siemens 7308, which makes this a world-class linestage. The F.S. has a solid bass, but, in my system, not extremely deep and, in my opinion, lacks the iron-fisted grip that you talk about. However, it does have an extremely transparent midrange which makes female vocal and horn listening very exciting and even sometines breathtaking. In the right system, with the right recordings, the vocalist can appear as if she is in your room singing to you. Great soundstage and separation of instruments. Unlike the CAT described below, no sweetness here, but still, due to the transparence, a very engaging sound.

Slightly less dynamic, but with deeper and more iron-fisted bass is the CAT SL-1 Ultimate. I think if you like the rock-solid, powerful deep bass, you should listen to a CAT. From the lower mid on up, the sound is sweet, smooth and musical, rather than hiper-detailed. The music is all there, but not in the super-transparent manner that the First Sound presents. Great musicality, lush but not syrupy sound, wide soundstage, but doesn't have the near-pinpoint imaging of the F.S. The imaging here is more diffuse than the F.S., but as an integrated whole, this unit is also exceptional.

I have not heard the Wytech or the Placette, but have heard the stock Aesthetix Callisto Mk I. I thought this unit in the system in which I auditioned it specifically to be lacking in dynamics. Just my opinion.

I do own both the F.S. Presence Deluxe Mk II 4.0 and the CAT SL-1 Ultimate Mk I.

Exlibris:

Thanks. Here is my attempt to answer your very difficult questions:

Does your First Sound linestage have excellent high frequency extension?

Yes, excellent high frequency extension with no rolloff that I can determine at the high end.

Does it "energize" your whole listening room and regularly project images well in front of the speaker plane when the recording calls for it?

It does energize the room and it delivers a very close, intimate soundstage. Everything is well-focused, but female vocals really stand out in my system, particularly with the right tubes and matching equipment. If I understand what "energize the room" means, this would be enhanced by transparency, image focus and dynamics, all of which the F.S. has a whole lot of. I would say image focus is somewhat dependent on the recording and which tubes you are using. Some tubes give a high degree of image focus and others are great for dynamics in the F.S.

When images "speak" does their voice have good "action", in other words, does their voice project from the image and wash over the listener? What I'm getting at is: Are you the listener "inside" the music or are you left "watching" the music as if watching ghosts in another dimension behind an invisible, yet impenitrable plane?

This is a tough question to answer. You should be a poet or a novelist, because your imagery is pretty graphic. I am not sure that I experience music in the way that you do, but I would say that unequivocally the F.S. brings me closest to the music in its immediacy and "aliveness" than other preamps which I have heard. I don't experience the music by being inside it, but on the best recordings, I hear a broad soundstage with vocalist and musical instruments each in their own well-defined space within that soundstage. With the First Sound, on the best recordings, the vocalist is projected a couple of feet in front of the other musicians. Vocals and brass, in paricular, have a "you are there" quality on the best recordings. As I sit 8-9 feet away fron the speakers, I experience the vocalist at the five to six feet away point, so it's all a very close-up, intimate presentation. This is not a rich, ambient, reverberant sounding piece of equipment. It is spectacular in what is revealed at close quarters with music and musicians, whether the music is subtle and reserved or spectacular and dynamic. That is the best that I can describe it.

Please check my other posts on preamps and the First Sound if you want other comments on the F.S.

Does anybody have a Wyetech Opal and live in NYC?

Nope. I haven't heard a Blowtorch. I would like to, but with what they cost, it is a path I couldn't go down, so it would only be curiosity which would drive me to hear it. I have heard that they are something special.