Tenor amps..."to pre or not to pre"

I am the proud owner of Tenor Audio 75wi OTL’s and, as one of the first few individuals with the amps in the US, have had time to do quite a bit of experimenting. Some of my findings have been that they have made virtually every speaker I have hooked them up to sound better than I have ever heard said speakers sound before. Of course I have been careful to match them with OTL friendly transducers. Many have extolled the virtues of the Tenors and I would only be repeating those sentiments, so I won’t

Like many others I have also tried the Tenors with several active pre-amps including:
Lamm L-1
Wytech Opal
Levinson 32
Burmester 935 MKII spec.
Blue Circle BC-3000
And both the Placette VC and 3 input passive.

In ALL cases I preferred the cdp (Burmester 979/980, AA Capitole MKII) run directly to the Tenors (with the Burmester, I preferred the Tenors VC... with the AA I prefer to use the AA’s VC). In ALL cases I could quickly tell that I had inserted a new box and attendant cables between the source and amp. In ALL cases any gain in dynamics (minor at best…best with the Opal) was more than offset by a noticeable loss of transparency and overall musicality. There was less there there.
I became convinced that NO pre-amp was the best pre-amp in this set-up (and perhaps any set-up) and had committed myself to shift attention to other places in the system to try and find gains (yes I know…I can never leave well enough alone). I was also well aware that this was the sentiment of most if not all Tenor/AA owners as well as the owners of various other gear.

Finally to my point!!

This all changed when a friend introduced me to a local dealer (JC Audio) who began extolling the virtues of the Audio Note line of pre-amplifiers…specifically the M-5 and M-6.
“Kurt you’ve got to try these…they will be different”, “yeah, yeah Joe, I’ve heard that before” was the common thread of our early conversations. Well, after some time, I broke down and agreed to try one more pre-amp, the Audio Note M-5.
To make a long story short (or is that, an already long story longer) I now own an Audio Note M-5. The reason is simple…everything got better in my system when the M-5 went in. More dynamic, more transparent (how could that be?), more musical. I didn’t just do a quick A/B to determine my preference, I listened for weeks to all kinds of music, trying to trip up this pre-amp and find it’s weakness…never could. It played everything I threw at it with aplomb. It sounds terrific at low volume and with the pedal down.

I don’t know if the Audio Note M-5 is the best pre-amp (as a matter of fact it can’t be because there is an M-6 and then an M-8 in the AN line) but I can say that to this guys ears and in this guys system it is the only pre-amp I’ve tried that has been better than no- pre-amp.
Based on my experience, I encourage all Tenor owners (and those with other amps who have given up on pre’s) to give this pre-amp thing another try….I’m very glad I did.

My system:
RPM1 table, RPM 2 arm, 47 lab/Miyabi cart., 47 Lab Phono
Hovland Music Groove 2
AA Capitole MKII
Audio Note M-5
Tenor 75wi
Audio Note AN/E-SEC silver speakers
Jena Labs cables
Elrod PC’s
Bybee Triple Sucker PLC
4-20amp dedicated lines
Zoethecus amp and component stands

Musical preferences:
Jazz 60%
Classical 40%

Disclaimer – I have no interest of any kind in JC Audio, Audio Note or Tenor or anything except good sound for that matter