Transistor Preamp that sounds like a Tube Preamp?

Asa and I had a very good conversation by telephone. We talked about how discussions on the internet escalate beyond what either party intended. We both apologized and all is well.

Asa, I think that some have learned how to better use transistors and other parts have greatly improved. Certainly, I would agree with gregm's thought that we have seen a great improvement in isolating components, which has cost me dearly as I think the Halcyonic active isolation base because I have found it is clearly superior, in getting ac power to components, and certainly in the quality of parts, wire, boards, power supply, and even jacks used.

Based on what I have heard, I believe that Roger Paul's H-Cat circuitry must be an innovative circuit. I say must be as everything is potted in modules. I would not claim to have much more than a rudimentary understanding of how his Doppler sensors work, but I do know they have proven quite sensitive to external influences. Many of the recent updates have been directed toward better isolating them from emi.

Again, I cannot speak of the circuit itself, and merely meant to suggest that the H-Cat should be heard, not that this is easy to do. My system is always available when I am not traveling and if you can find your way to College Station, Texas, which is about 100 miles north of Houston. The proof is in the pudding.

Asa, my experience with passives has not been a consistent journey as some have worked better than others. I've been comparing a series of passives with some pretty good tube pres, most recently CAT SL1 Ultimate, Joule LA150 MKII, and Lamm LL2. In all cases, I thought the system, feeding either a CAT JL2 or Music Reference RM9 Special Edition to Merlin VSM MXes sounded fantastic and musically satisfying - so we are really the realm of hairsplitting and personal preference. I was suprised how one of the passives, a Music Reference Pot-in-a-Box ($135) sounded compared to the tube preamps, and at the price point a bit of a no brainer, but I did still prefer the actives - a bit more dynamic and bloom (which I think is the attribute that differentiates SS from tubes in your description). I also tried a SB102 transformer passive, but I actually preferred the simpler resistor based attentuator - even though most folks will swear up and down that the transformer approach is clearly superior. It wasn't till I received the new Bent TAP-x that uses an autoformer that I felt comfortable making the move to passive in place of the fine tube pres I had been using. I still think personal preference is key here and while their may be an absolute sound, there is not likely absolute ears. In my system, which is very "passive" friendly, the Bent Tap certainly competes with tubes (to my ears). That being said, I still use an Atma-sphere pre with my Atma-sphere amp - there is something to be said for synergy and system context.

Geez, if a phone call turned this spat into a love fest, maybe tbg and I should get on the phone! :)

Fiddler, I don't exactly see a love fest, but given the way the H-Cat fell into name calling, I do think both of us went to some excess given the impersonality of the internet. I have noticed that some of your other posts are quite constructive and I suspect you have found the same of mine. I am independently sending you my telephone number.

Pubul57, I have had five different passives--the placette passive, the Reference, the Tokyo pot, the Silver Rock, and the Top Dog. This is over quite a time span so many different systems were involved. In each case I have heard the purity of the unamplified sound, but I have also heard the loss of pace or dynamics to the music; it became boring and uninvolving. I am aware that one really does need to adapt your system for passive units, but the promise never seemed worth the effort.

I have had a checkered history also with tube line stages, with some just so slow and bloated that you could hardly listen and that I am sure are the experiences for some who hate tuby linestages. But at least they were not hard on the ears in the high frequencies. I remember my first ss preamp was the Crown IC150. You could use music to engrave glass coffee tables with it. An Trevor Lees modified Dyna PAS 3 blew it away and resulted in a long history with tube line stages, with occasional ventures into ss, such as with the Cello and Krell Reference.

Before the H-cat I never had a line stage for longer than a year.

The H-cat must be special. Any other users out there with similar conclusions. Possible it will be at RMAF?