Norm, no one has a vendetta against you. Why are you so paranoid? And this has nothing to do with the fact that I own a Supratek. My beef is you saleshacking the Exemplar and H-Cat anytime anyone mentions another preamp. We all know that you think the Exemplar and H-Cat products are world-class. Just give it a rest.
I have received emails from four different individuals on the 'Gon and AA (who have thousands of posts between them) that gave me big high-fives for someone finally addressing your saleshacking. The problem isn't your choice of components; its your constant attempt to ram them down everyone else's throat. It's just old.
And Joperfi, no one has it out for Norm. Many here are just tired of the same old antics about Exemplar and H-Cat, over and over (roll eyes). Especially quotes like, "I am firmly of the opinion that the H-Cat line stage is unrivaled".
That's Norm's opinion and he's entitled to it. But that leaves out the likes of CAT, Lamm, ARC, VTL, the highest-end Suprateks, and the Blowtorch, etc., etc., etc. Its a stretch to think that the H-Cat is better than all of these preamps. And funny that it's so good, but it can't seem to get any traction in the marketplace.
Contrast that with some other components manufactured by single individuals: the H2O amps, Suprateks, the Berning ZH270, the APL 2910, etc. all sold by word-of-mouth. Interestingly, there is a long wait for any of these products, but I haven't heard anything about a long queue for the H-Cat.
I must admit that I was tempted to order an H-Cat at one time to see if it lived up to the hype that Norm has been espousing. But after receiving emails from some good ears who have heard the H-Cat and after seeing some luke-warm remarks (I'm being polite) about it here, I decided not to invest the time. As I said, something just doesn't make sense here.
Norm, I remember when others here gave "Warrenh" a ration of crap for constantly posting about the Caravelles anytime a speaker thread started. He got the message and he has greatly moderated his posts and exuberance about his speakers (Caravelles).
How bout you?
ttti