Traded Off my SLP-05

I too for a time owned the Andra 2. And to me, the Andra 2 with the Esotar tweeters (I thought) that the upper frequencies were subdued.

And I also owned the Cary SLP-05 (with different speakers) and it also had sort of a romantic sound with subdued upper frequencies.

That combo will really lean toward the mid and lower mid sound. So, equipment and their relationship with each really matters.

ozzy

@ozzy Exactly! With Nautilus 801 the Cary helped tame that just perfect.

+1 to what @ozzy shared.  

I've found there seems to be sort of this compounding effect when you have 3 components in the chain that are all soft, smooth, more laid back on the top end.   

If the speakers are slightly warm and veiled over, there might be other options.  If the new BHK preamp does not help, in parallel [worth researching this too] I'd be contacting the speaker manufacturer-designer to ask if there are potential crossover changes available to swap in a change.  They might have advice here too. Clearly the speakers are voiced in a specific way for a type of sound achieved. 

Agree! Cable change and or xover parts change was next on the list.

@sqitis 

I truly hope you like the PS Audio BHK Sig.  I noticed PS Audio are selling these as a closeout for half price ($3499) and should be a fantastic deal and easily salable if you need to move on.

It is a Class A topology (The Cary is a Class A triode) so this should help give the sound life and dynamics.  However the gain on the PS Audio is just less than 10db.  Compared to the 17db of the Cary (Single ended) and 24 db (balanced) you may notice quite a big drop off in scale and verve.  

I've had my SLP-05 for 4 years now and with a Mullard NOS rectifier and Sylvania 6SN7 NOS tubes feeding a beefy McIntosh Solid State power amp I cannot ever think of selling it.  Clarity, detail, smoothness, polished musicality, the perfect amount of sweetness, massive sound stage and musical element separation and instant on transients / micro dynamics it is mine forever. 

Sure the meter lamps puke out every once in a while (I made my own fix) and it's 2-chassis system is bulky but the Class A triode sound is to die for.  I use the single ended connections feeding my Mac amp, the balanced connections have too much gain for a typical amp.  With a low gain power amp (e.g. 20db Pass XA25 or some First Watt models, the Balanced high gain outputs are a perfect match and expands significantly on the dynamics and sound stage.  Bottom line you need to know how to get the most out of it with proper setup and amplifier synergy.   

I hope you were able to do that prior to dumping it and that you will not be disappointed with the PSA.