Modwright SWL 9.0SE -vs- Aesthetix Calypso?


I was just wondering if anyone out there has owned both, heard both, or compared both the Aesthetix Calypso and the Modwright SWL 9.0SE preamps?
If so, what were the sonic differences between the two?
Which is overall sonically superior?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Angela
audio_girl
Post removed 
This is Dan Wright of ModWright Instruments. First of all, thank you to those who replied with positive experiences. To the last poster who was not impressed with the unit, I do wonder if it was fully broken in. The unit requires a full 150+ hours for the teflon signal caps in particular, to fully break-in. The unit can sound a bit closed in until full burn-in has been achieved.

I will not apologize for the units accuracy, dynamics and control. It is NOT an overly tubey sounding unit and will not impress those who like the warm and romantic sound of some tube designs.

I prefer a sound that is natural and neutral, with some tube warmth and the presence and body that only tubes can bring. The 5687 tube we use is unique in terms of its dynamic character and linear operation.

I honestly know of the Aesthetix units by reputation only. I believe that one of our dealers may have compared these two units, but am not sure if it was the Calypso or a different Aesthetix model.

We have a growing network of dealers and international distributors. These are all hand-picked by me, to assure that they offer the level of service that ModWright is known for.

I chose dealer representation rather than going factory direct only. I want our customers to have the opportunity to personally audition and evaluate the SWL 9.0SE for themselves.

I am very pleased with the performance and success of the SWL 9.0SE. It conveys the ModWright Sound exceptionally well. This will not necessarily be for everyone, but so far our detractors have been VERY few.

Thanks,

Dan Wright
President, ModWright Instruments Inc.
360.247.6688
Hey Dan, I have been curious about these because of the overwhelmingly positive response in this forum. The Calypso is the next preamp I am planning to try because I run all balanced equipment. Any plans for a fully balanced unit?
There seams to be some confusion over the Sonicraft platinum capacitors. They are NOT teflon. The cap is a hybrid design that happens to use teflon film as one of the ingredients. The unit was fully broken in.
Reb1208 - I too would be curious to hear what the rest of your system is. Your comments are surprising to me. I bought one of Dan's prototypes for the current production preamp. From what I understand from the few comments I've read from folks who've owned both, the production model is only an improvement on the prototype. Now on my prototype the soundstage was nothing short of superb, and, though I wouldn't have called it a 'tubey' sounding pre, but I also would not have thought to relate it to an SS pre. I found it to be neutral sounding and very dynamic and fast. Again, differences exist from prototype to production, but I'm be really surprised to hear that they'd go the direction you describe experiencing. My issue with the prototype was a simple one that it did not have as good synergy with my SET amps as with my Push/Pull rig. Dan was implementing some changes at the time based upon feedback from the prototypes which he thought would address some of my desire for better synergy with SET. Unfortunately I already had a deal in place to sell the prototype so didn't get to follow up on the offer. My issues with my SET amps were that the prototype did not give me as strong a low-end as I was used to. The emphasis in that matching up was all about midrange. It also seemed to take away some of the warmth (which may be coloration, albeit coloration that i very much like) from that midrange in favor of neutrality. This was not the case with the P/P amp where the prototype really shined in every area and was a superb pre. After reading many comments on how improved the production model is I wish I'd stuck with the program. So let us know what you are pairing the preamp off with. If you are going to make comments that are specific to a component it helps to know the associated system as it could simply be a poor combination. If there were one great preamp that went with every system out there there would be no need for forums like this, or rags that thrive on reviews.

Marco