Counterpoint SA-5000 or First Sound Presence Pre

i didnt expect the tread to go this way. maybe because i live in san diego and know the background with counterpoint and the owners.

dont get me wrong, the 5000 is a nice preamp. HOWEVER, counterpoints relaiblity as a whole isnt that great. if you have a working one that hasnt gone south, then you are very fortunate.

i have no hard feelings toward mike and his wife. they are very nice people and what happened to them is very, very unfortunate. i would not want to wish that on my worst enemy.

btw, what happened with them is they had alot of $$$$ manufacturing gear that wasnt being used( they tried to be like arc and do everything in house- from metal to silkscreening).

i was looking at a First sound presence last year that had a damaged face plate. i contacted the company ( emanualle) and he offered to replace the face plate (for free!!!) and update the volume pot and check the tubes for a minimal charge...wow....i was impressed.

though i didnt win the pre, the owner was very personable and cared about his product wether new or used..that stuck with me. if first sound came out with a remote pre....i would be interested. btw, mike e. is the same way - very cordial and personable (though his repairs are a little more).

as for myself i use a pse hl-1 hybrid pre. the owner is true gentleman (dean k.) and always willing to discuss his products and upgradeabililty of them ( very reliable gear and upgrades are reasonabley priced).

btw, i use a audible illusions IID for a phono stage. it sounds pretty good and is reliable. if i didnt have the hl-1 then i would go with the ai m3 ( needs a remote imo)

i have alot of respect for AI, they have been around a long time and have built world class product for close to 25 plus years. that says alot in my book.

best regards,

mike

Mikesinger:

When you allege in a public forum that a person has a decade old unpaid bill, you exhibit extremely poor judgment to say the least! And you claim to be a friend.

Further, your statement to this effect confirms my suspicion that you have a hidden agenda which fuels your continuous, speculative criticism of Counterpoint products.

Please ask yourself whether your participation in these exchanges is helpful to people who write to seek assistance with audio related questions.

All I have to add is that my brother had a Counterpoint amp back then that almost burned our parents house down. Admittedly, it sounded tremendous. One of the best amps I've ever heard but...one day we had it on and the next thing we knew, flames were literally leaping out of it. Thank god we were there to put them out. Ever since it has made me nervous about leaving "high end" amps on unattended, though I've never had a problem like this with my Audio Research D-125. Again, it was a great sounding amp. I think is was a S-20. Anyway, the manufacurer did back up the product repairing it and upgrading it to a SA 220. I'm not dumping on Counterpoint because I think they sound exceptional. But that experience with that amp certainly made me nervous about the overall safety of their products. Anyone else have an experience like this?

Mknowles16... whatever..

you can discard my information regarding the reliablity of counterpoint...you would have to blind to ignore it.

it is on the current alta vista site and all over audiogon and asylum.

dont get me wrong it is great sounding gear when it works, but there is a major relaiblity issue and that is obvious.

if you cant recognize that, then you need to question your intellectul honesty or lack thereof

regarding the print bill. why dont you ask mike e. about the situation ? he got off, i had other jobs in the shop that paid for it. precsion litho is the second largest printer in san diego, things like this do happen.

the owner of precison litho ( dennis rampee wrote it off).when a business goes bankrupt (chapter 7), there is nothing that can be done. the print shop bill was small compared to the other debt.as far mike e. as a friend, that may be streching it a bit thin. a business acquintance would be better.

i was a business acquaintance with mark baker and albert von schkvert when he was with counterpoint. how they handled albert and replaced him with pat mcguinney ( meadowlark) is a whole different story and none of my business.

rather than attack the person why dont you attack the discussion ?

if you stand on your soap box and say counterpoint is know for reliable gear... then king....you are not wearing any clothes and the only person that doesent see it, is you.

mike

Mikesinger-

I believe intellectual has at least one "a" in it.