Congratulations! It sounds like you made your way out of the rabbit hole.
System talk.
I was using a modified Dyanco Pas-2 to drive my system with a SOTA Star tt and Micromega Stage 3 cd player. I started with a Dynaco ST70 that I rebuilt. This was driving Kef 104/2's. Sounded pretty good. Originally I had a Pas-3 that I rebuilt as the preamp. The Pas-2 had a unique high capacitance mod that made it blossom so I kept it in the system.
I got a pair of Quad ESL-63 USA, Crosby mods, and the system sounded great. The speakers started crackling and spitting so I had them rebuilt by Sheldon Stokes, now up in NH. He did a fantastic job rebuilding the power supplies along with the rest of the speakers. These went back into my system after the rebuild.
Next I was lucky enough to find a Krell KSA-50 in working condition. Holy cow! This amp is not transistor sounding -- glare... It sounds clean and full, nothing was missing from the sound of the ST70 that I liked so much, yet it added more.
This year I was able to find a CAT preamp at a price I could afford. It was the benchmark preamp for many of the salesmen at Sound by Singer when I worked there years ago. It was the holy grail. One colleague of mine at SBS described it as the best sounding preamp he had ever heard. I was so glad to be able to put this preamp into my system -- a CAT SL-1 Signature Mkiii!
So, my system has a Krell KSA-50 (original) amp and a late 90's CAT preamp in it with revealing speakers and good tt and cd sources. When I spin an lp or a cd, everything in the system made a difference. But, I would say that the preamp made an incredible difference -- the CAT is that good. The Krell made an amazing difference. It is solid state but does not carry the drawbacks; it was not a difficult change to adjust to after listening to a tube amp for so many years. However, I must say that the CAT preamp dialed everything in to make it a truly amazing listening experience. I can't believe how good this preamp is!
I don't work for Convergent Audio or have any ties to them. I did have a great talk with Ken Stevens about the preamp and cartridge impedance matching, but that is it.
In summary, I love the Krell KSA-50 driving my Quad ESL-63 USA's along with the CAT SL-1 Signature Mkiii preamp feeding into it. Wow, it is glorious sound -- precise, separation, air, full bodied, timbre, and soundstaging with width and depth. The CAT dialed it all in!!! The Quads and the Krell have a lot to do with this, too.
Equipment: Quad ESL-63 USA; Krell KSA-50; CAT Signature Mkiii; SOTA Star; SME V; Koetsu Black; Micromega Stage 3 cd player; various interconnect and speaker cables.
Stay safe and healthy. Best regards!
I got a pair of Quad ESL-63 USA, Crosby mods, and the system sounded great. The speakers started crackling and spitting so I had them rebuilt by Sheldon Stokes, now up in NH. He did a fantastic job rebuilding the power supplies along with the rest of the speakers. These went back into my system after the rebuild.
Next I was lucky enough to find a Krell KSA-50 in working condition. Holy cow! This amp is not transistor sounding -- glare... It sounds clean and full, nothing was missing from the sound of the ST70 that I liked so much, yet it added more.
This year I was able to find a CAT preamp at a price I could afford. It was the benchmark preamp for many of the salesmen at Sound by Singer when I worked there years ago. It was the holy grail. One colleague of mine at SBS described it as the best sounding preamp he had ever heard. I was so glad to be able to put this preamp into my system -- a CAT SL-1 Signature Mkiii!
So, my system has a Krell KSA-50 (original) amp and a late 90's CAT preamp in it with revealing speakers and good tt and cd sources. When I spin an lp or a cd, everything in the system made a difference. But, I would say that the preamp made an incredible difference -- the CAT is that good. The Krell made an amazing difference. It is solid state but does not carry the drawbacks; it was not a difficult change to adjust to after listening to a tube amp for so many years. However, I must say that the CAT preamp dialed everything in to make it a truly amazing listening experience. I can't believe how good this preamp is!
I don't work for Convergent Audio or have any ties to them. I did have a great talk with Ken Stevens about the preamp and cartridge impedance matching, but that is it.
In summary, I love the Krell KSA-50 driving my Quad ESL-63 USA's along with the CAT SL-1 Signature Mkiii preamp feeding into it. Wow, it is glorious sound -- precise, separation, air, full bodied, timbre, and soundstaging with width and depth. The CAT dialed it all in!!! The Quads and the Krell have a lot to do with this, too.
Equipment: Quad ESL-63 USA; Krell KSA-50; CAT Signature Mkiii; SOTA Star; SME V; Koetsu Black; Micromega Stage 3 cd player; various interconnect and speaker cables.
Stay safe and healthy. Best regards!
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