Lehmann Black Cube question

I have only heard and owned the first black cube. The rest of the system was denon 103, systemdek IIX table, profile arm, manely stingray and nautilus 805 speakers. This was an extremely good sounding, full bodied, dynamic sound. Not analytical at all with tons of prat. The black cube is dead silent as is the manley. The lehmann isn't state of the art! but is a real fun musical phono imho. This system was a bit bright on occasion (not because of the cube) but even these days i still think back with fond memories about that sound and even entertain going back to a similar system! This was my experience with it...

I evaluated 3 of the black cube phono stages about a year ago now. The Black Cube lasts about 1 hour to determine that it had warmed up enough. The SE with its external power pack was a vast improvement over the basic black cube. Then, again after about 1 hour, the Decade was switched in and again it was an improvement over the SE version.

The decade was a sub-standard phono stage in my evaluation.

I settled on a Manley Steelhead.

I'm certainly grateful for the comments, gents.
I know some folks have a higher regard for the BC,
but I've never listened to one and have no opinion at all.
I'm inclined to look elsewhere.
I wonder if I should start another thread:
Good (not Best) solid state phono pre for $1000, + or -,
new or used.

Thanks for remembering my efforts from long ago, Viridian. Bruce Kennett wrote the review of the Black Cube that appeared in "Listener" and he thought it sucked too, although he worded that opinion much more eloquently! I know I wrote a couple of paragraphs as a second opinion on the BC but I don't recall if Art ran it with Bruce's review. My back issues aren't handy at the moment. You're right though, majority opinion on the original Black Cube back then was that it was a giant killer.

The original Black Cube was the worst - sounding device I've ever heard in my system. It was efectively a PRaT filter: everything played through it came out sounding torpid and uninvolving. To cite one example, on the wonderfully driving "Sing, Sing, Sing" from Benny Goodman's 1939 Carnegie Hall concert, the Black Cube made Gene Krupa sound like he was playing underwater. The original BC was allegedly improved a little by replacing the stock power cord, but I didn't care enough to try that. You should definitely audition before buying.

I bought the original Black Cube when it first came out based on the over-the-top reviews and user comments. Big mistake! It sounded mediocre at best. I don't know if later models sounded better (I would certainly hope so), but I would be skeptical.