Hooper: Wow, now that was what I was looking for! The details on your system changes, and their sonic results, put everything so well into perspective. Thank you much.
Oh yes, I love the JL-3s. I have read the highest praise on the CAT amps for many years but could not get a chance to hear them. When an audio dealer in Chicago, Brian of EssentialAudio, posted here that he had some experience with the CAT, and would give further details to people that would contact him, I just had to write him. He offered to let me visit and not only hear the CAT, but also the Atmaspheres which he liked very much and with Soundlab U1s. How could I resist such an offer.
Brian has one heck of an audio system and the sound was like few other systems I have heard; the capabilities of the CAT and Atma amps could easily be heard. But unlike your case, here it was a case of "pick the amp with the strengths you like the most". Neither product walked away with the checkered flag in an absolute sense.
I had 2 weeks to get my funds in order before I was to make the final choice. I also wanted to hear other speakers, mainly the Avalons, that I felt would be a good fit for me based on what I have read here. But I was 90% sure I would go for a new pair of Maple Soundlab A1s and the demo model JL-2 that I heard. I had just enough money to get this combination. But I wanted mono amps so much and yet the JL-2 just won me over with the dynamic contrasts and attack at the start of each note. It was a new experience for me to hear this. My older Wolcotts and Magnepan 3.5s were musical, but not even close to this level.
During this time, I was in contact with a man selling a pair of JL-3 Sig amps and he of course was prasing these as well. And just when my money was available, he emailed me again letting me know he still had the JL-3s if I still had not made my decision; he would wrap them up and ship them to me for Christmas! I politely replied that his amps were out of my price range and let him know what I would be willing to pay for my ultimate amp upgrade. Of course this would also tear into the speakers (A1s or Eidolons or anything else) fund. But if an ultimate amp deal came along, I'd be willing to forego a speaker upgrade for the short term. It was the amp upgrade that I had been seeking in the first place.....and the desire to finally hear the CAT which got the ball rolling.
A couple days later I got an email that the JL-3s were mine, at my max amp price if I truly wanted them. He came way down and I had no option but to go for this. Wow, that rarely happens! And no Dove bars as part of the transaction. I was a happy camper. But I was also a pennyless camper.
That was the end of the new Maple A1s I had wanted so much, and even the possibility of a good deal on used Avalon Eidolons. But I did manage to find an older pair of A1s at a steal of a deal because the seller wanted to scale back from owning these huge behemoths. He too sweetened the deal as he wanted so much to let them go and was having no luck to sell them. And he had put much money into them a year before with many updates from the factory.
Today I have sound like I never could have dreamed of. Surely the newer generations of Soundlabs have several refinements and when the time comes, I will get back with Brian and go for these, but for now, I am very content with how this all worked out.
Of course I have a little curiosity on the sound of the DarTZeel vs. the CATs, but I will not go down this path at this time. There are other links that now need attention.
Thanks again for your detailed updates.
John
Oh yes, I love the JL-3s. I have read the highest praise on the CAT amps for many years but could not get a chance to hear them. When an audio dealer in Chicago, Brian of EssentialAudio, posted here that he had some experience with the CAT, and would give further details to people that would contact him, I just had to write him. He offered to let me visit and not only hear the CAT, but also the Atmaspheres which he liked very much and with Soundlab U1s. How could I resist such an offer.
Brian has one heck of an audio system and the sound was like few other systems I have heard; the capabilities of the CAT and Atma amps could easily be heard. But unlike your case, here it was a case of "pick the amp with the strengths you like the most". Neither product walked away with the checkered flag in an absolute sense.
I had 2 weeks to get my funds in order before I was to make the final choice. I also wanted to hear other speakers, mainly the Avalons, that I felt would be a good fit for me based on what I have read here. But I was 90% sure I would go for a new pair of Maple Soundlab A1s and the demo model JL-2 that I heard. I had just enough money to get this combination. But I wanted mono amps so much and yet the JL-2 just won me over with the dynamic contrasts and attack at the start of each note. It was a new experience for me to hear this. My older Wolcotts and Magnepan 3.5s were musical, but not even close to this level.
During this time, I was in contact with a man selling a pair of JL-3 Sig amps and he of course was prasing these as well. And just when my money was available, he emailed me again letting me know he still had the JL-3s if I still had not made my decision; he would wrap them up and ship them to me for Christmas! I politely replied that his amps were out of my price range and let him know what I would be willing to pay for my ultimate amp upgrade. Of course this would also tear into the speakers (A1s or Eidolons or anything else) fund. But if an ultimate amp deal came along, I'd be willing to forego a speaker upgrade for the short term. It was the amp upgrade that I had been seeking in the first place.....and the desire to finally hear the CAT which got the ball rolling.
A couple days later I got an email that the JL-3s were mine, at my max amp price if I truly wanted them. He came way down and I had no option but to go for this. Wow, that rarely happens! And no Dove bars as part of the transaction. I was a happy camper. But I was also a pennyless camper.
That was the end of the new Maple A1s I had wanted so much, and even the possibility of a good deal on used Avalon Eidolons. But I did manage to find an older pair of A1s at a steal of a deal because the seller wanted to scale back from owning these huge behemoths. He too sweetened the deal as he wanted so much to let them go and was having no luck to sell them. And he had put much money into them a year before with many updates from the factory.
Today I have sound like I never could have dreamed of. Surely the newer generations of Soundlabs have several refinements and when the time comes, I will get back with Brian and go for these, but for now, I am very content with how this all worked out.
Of course I have a little curiosity on the sound of the DarTZeel vs. the CATs, but I will not go down this path at this time. There are other links that now need attention.
Thanks again for your detailed updates.
John