Comparing Ultraverve to CJ 16 or Supratek preamps

Well the responses are encouraging regarding keping the Ultraverve.
Actually mine has Vcap teflon caps in it (along with a few other tweaks) so it may or may not be better than the original. I might try to sub them out with some Mundorf Silver/Oil to see if I prefer them instead.

I have tried preamps with the 6922 and also 12XX7 tubes and they seemed sterile in comparison.

The fact that I have searched every forum to see if anyone has replaced their Ultraverve (and come up empty searching, which made me ask this question in the first place) maybe should make me just stop wondering and just enjoy it.

Yobby I do love tube rolling various NOS tubes with it and changing the sound. Also I like live like sound so if the CJ pre is like Oregon states I probably would find it boring after time.

Frankk,
From your previous thread, I believe you would gain the most from cables. I also have the Ultraverve and recently moved up the Gabriel Gold line to the Revelations. It is astonishing how good these cables are and very involving. If interested, contact Steve(STS) and see what he has coming up for sale. The Dehavilland is a keeper.

I will soon be replacing my Ultraverve with a preamp built my me. I am using the Erno Borbely line stage and power supply in a custom chassis with P&G volume control.
My present Ultravere is fitted with the the Gold point step attenuator with remote control, the output caps replaced with Mundorf SIO and some resistor upgrades. Extensive tube rolling has been done for the 6sn7 type.
I have been comparing both the preamps side by side for the past two months and all I can say that the Borbely line stage is better in most areas. It is amazing that this SS preamp sounds so harmonically rich, smooth and non fatiguing with excellent control of bass, glorious midrange and sweet extended highs.
The Ultraverve is also fantastic, one of the great preamp out there, but this one is a step up.

In general, the CJ pres are warm and lush sounding.

The ART and Premier 16LS broke that mold. In its day, the 16LS was considered a radical departure from the CJ house sound. While the last of the century tier 1 Premier models - and today's equivalents - remain on the yin side of imaginary neutral, its inaccurate to paint them with the same brush as decades old product (pre-1996). The CJ Premier 16, imo, was and remains best-of-breed at its price point.
 
Tim
 

Nakolawala,
Can you tell me how do the sound of the modified UltraVerve compared to the stock one ? I'm interested to know the differences besides the remote control. Who knows, I might upgrade mine if I feel is a step up.