Threshold Fet 10/e, Pass XP20/30, Motif MC-7 and 8

I am asking for opinions. After having heard all of these preamps, I decided to go on with a recapping project for the Fet10/E. Acocording to Mr. Pass himself Roederstein and WIMA’s are excellent peformers and he recommended me those as a low cost alternative option. Furthermore, I have replaced the Noble pots with ELNA attenurators and installed bypass caps in the power supply. A filter against dirty power was added to the power supply as well.

I took the Fet 10/E and compared it to the newer Pass models and I personally found the Fet10/E more open, airier, and better extended in the mids and highs. The lower mids were execllent and had a much more foward character than the Motif MC-7 or MC-8. The Motif did slighty roll off in the highs, but I found this a slight too much in background. The base of the XP20/30 was quite leant foward, but the Fet 10/E was better extended and fuller sounding to me than the XP20 and 30. The Motif had a bloom base that I hear on live concerts that I loved very much. In comparison with the Fet 10/E the Threshold noticeably had better details in the low end.


I am not waving my arms for anything, but after recapping I found the Fet 10/E to be clearly a better performing unit. I was surpised that a Pass XP20 and 30 did not change much for me at all.

I regret selling a piece that I did not upgrade. Anyone had similar experiences after recapping?

The statement that many reviewers set into the world that newer preamps are much better is something I cannot share after working on a Fet10/E.