Equipment that has made you 'stop' looking?

Bander,

HD is better than SilverSmith?

Luxman, Ayre, Nordost, Verity. Two years stable. If money were no object I would surf higher on the Luxman wave.

ZYX Diamond Gold Cartridge

Needfreestuff, I've heard that it is as good as the Ikeda 9TT but more expensive, but not the equal of the Ikeda Kai.

SMc Audio modified/upgraded TLC-1. This linestage from the 1990's was the forebearer to SMc Audio's highly regarded VRE-1 linestage, basically a buffered passive, which is most often configured for 6dB gain resulting from the transformers. Steve McCormack at SMc Audio performed "across the board" modifications to my TLC-1 resulting in what I call the TLC Signature Edition (TLC SE).

The improvements have resulted in a virtually new preamp with the additions of a Shallco discrete resistor volume control, Lundahl input/output transformers, new wiring, other new passive and active parts, and the outboard choke power supply from the VRE-1. The preamp now includes a balanced input and output. Even the faceplate and knobs were redone.

Steve is currently completing additional upgrades using new capacitors and transformers that have just come on the market, and modifying the gain structure. The SMc Audio TLC SE has met all my audio needs in a preamp/linestage and, in my system, has sonically bested a wide range of very good preamps in the general retail range of $5-10K. I look forward to getting it back and hearing Steve's latest work.