rayhall
Responses from rayhall
| CAT Preamps vs Amps Reading Bart's (POSBWP555) first post of 6/20, wow ... CAT is sweet and musical, almost with any tube that you use. Even with Sovtek 6922, it is not awful. CAT circuit masks how bad that tube sounds, however. With other tubes, CAT will always rema... | |
| CAT Preamps vs Amps Too bad you live in Minneapolis, Jafox, because I would like to get together with you for a preamp shootout. I have noted your posts in this thread and elsewhere and they does not correspond to my experience. I auditioned the Callisto, probably al... | |
| CAT Preamps vs Amps I, like Gbmcleod, am agog by what people have written about CAT preamps. I find them to be certainly among the best in dynamics, smoothness, liquidity and high frequency detail. They have stunning bass, in both depth and power. In my opinion, the ... | |
| Which Tube Pre for 5K? A CAT SL-1 is not balanced and has no remote, but, in my opinion, absolutely blows away the BAT 51SE sonically. The CAT Utimate has much better dynamics, extension and just a much better midrange. Anyway, that's my opinion. Other pres which don't ... | |
| CAT SL-1 MK III vs. First Sound Presence DeLuxe Thanks, Bombaywalla for mentioning my posts on this. I still own both preamps and in the following thread, I think that I covered best the differences, particularly the sweetness issue. I don't downgrade the F.S. for its lack of sweetness. It is s... | |
| Vandersteen 3A Sig vs. Von Schweikert VR4 Jr. I am resurrecting this old thread because it is an interesting subject to me. I am a Vandersteen 3A Signature owner and was previously an owner of the Von Schweikert VR-5and am a fan of the Von Schweikert VR-4 Jr, which I have heard on two hi-fi s... | |
| First Sound Preamp Owner's - What NOS tubes????? Siemens 7308's. No question. | |
| Used Preamp for $2000 to $3000 First Sound Presence Deluxe? Super dynamic, quiet and absolutely transparent. | |
| Pass X1 or BAT 51 SE to drive Pass Aleph 1.2 ? I own an Aleph 4 and I agree with the above about the Pass X seriea preamps. I also could never warm up to them. Although I tend to lean toward tubes in the preamp, there is at least one solid state preamp that I would consider and that is the Ayr... | |
| Differences between Vandersteen 3 & 3A? If by physically you mean cosmetically, they are exactly the same. I believe there were tweeter and crossover improvements. A friend of mine has a 3 and I have a 3A Signature. The difference is that the 3 appears to have a more powerful bass, whic... | |
| Move to NYC Apt -- Vandersteen 3A Speaker Woes I live in a NYC midtown apt and have Vandy 3A Signatures there but without the subs. I did have problems with an elderly woman living next door, but she moved. I do live in a reinforced concrete building and what I have found is that it prevents y... | |
| Looking for an incredibly dynamic preamplifier 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. | |
| Looking for an incredibly dynamic preamplifier 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 ... | |
| 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 dy... | |
| CAT Preamps vs Amps I am both a CAT SL-1 Ultimate Mk I owner and a First Sound Presence Deluxe Mk II 4.0 owner. I love my CAT, which I have had about 4 years, but I also love my First Sound. The CAT has unbelievably great bass, both deep and powerful, a smooth, sweet... |