As a result of some extended listening sessions at my local dealer's home (Jim Meine @ Epic Audio), I replaced a CTC Blowtorch with the Einstein, mistakenly thinking that the Einstein would offer a different and more tubular set of trade-offs. Wrong! The Einstein does in fact have a somewhat different tonal balance, not the overly warm, somewhat rounded balance of classic tube preamps, but certainly more fleshed out than the Blowtorch, particularly from the midbass through the lower mids; however it also has a somewhat more prominent lower bass and what appears to be a sweeter and more extended top end (particularly noticeable on the Acapella's plasma tweeters). The best way to describe the difference in the bass is to say that prior to the Einstein, I always missed my 21" subs (Cabasse Saturn A-21's) when they were out of the system. Now, for the vast majority of listening, the subs are not missed. It sounds as if my Campaniles now go about half an octave lower in the bass. No, they still cannot do the bottom octave justice but otherwise are all that one might want in the bass. I think that Rhyno would say that the Watt Puppy's have a little more snap and slam than the Acapella woofers (four 10" SEAS woofers per side in sealed enclosures), but would also admit that the WP's cannot fill a large room in the same way.
The Einstein seems to equal the Blowtorch in those areas where the Blowtorch excelled and to surpass it in other areas. Rhyno has already said that the unit has a vanishingly low noise floor that allows you to hear into the music in a way that most other preamps cannot. The Blowtorch is the absolute quietest piece of electronics that I have ever owned. The Einstein approaches that level but never quite reaches it. Likewise, the Blowtorch was extremely transparent and detailed without the false sense of detail that normally comes from selectively spiking a small band of frequencies in the upper mids and lower treble. The Einstein excels in this area and retrieves low level ambient information that the Blowtorch missed. Unfortunately, this sometimes intrudes on the music (coughs, low level talking in the audience, subway trains in the background) but more often than not reveals a richer tapestry of sound that helps to make the recorded performance seem more real.
The dynamics are spectacular? Not on every record or CD, but certainly on those few that are recorded well. Rhyno has already said much of what can be said with respect to macro dynamics, but the Einstein does equally well with micro dynamics which in my experience is much harder. It also does a nice job of recreating the leading edge of transients and an equal job of recreating the reverberant tail.
The Blowtorch had an ability to recreate a stage that remained stable at least with the right speakers, Rockports for instance, even as you moved about the room. Most other equipment that I have owned did not do this, at least in my system with my speakers. The stage was often wall to wall, particularly with large orchestral works and exhibited extremely good depth. The Einstein also does this but seems to generate denser, more three dimensional images, say the body of a cello or the chest of a singer. The image has somewhat softer edge definition than the Blowtorch but does a better job of creating an illusion of space between instruments.
Transparewnt, accurate, detailed, natural, tonally correct. All adjectives that describe the Einstein; however, none of these truly captures what makes this unit so special. I have noticed that whenever I acquire a new toy, my initial reaction is to spend hours upon hours rediscovering familiar pieces of music. Over time that initial enthusiasm wains, and I find myself listening less and less. On rare ocassions (after purchasing a Crosby modified set of Quad 63's), I find myself actually listening more as time goes on. I often read while I am listening. With the Einstein this is virtually impossible. This preamp refuses to let you casualize the music. It demands your attention. Its not so much that it removes veils (which it does) but that it somehow draws you into and allows you to connect with the music on an emotional level. If a system is truly exceptional, it will catch your attention even when you are in an adjacent room and this is certainly the case with the Einstein. Highly recommended.
The Einstein seems to equal the Blowtorch in those areas where the Blowtorch excelled and to surpass it in other areas. Rhyno has already said that the unit has a vanishingly low noise floor that allows you to hear into the music in a way that most other preamps cannot. The Blowtorch is the absolute quietest piece of electronics that I have ever owned. The Einstein approaches that level but never quite reaches it. Likewise, the Blowtorch was extremely transparent and detailed without the false sense of detail that normally comes from selectively spiking a small band of frequencies in the upper mids and lower treble. The Einstein excels in this area and retrieves low level ambient information that the Blowtorch missed. Unfortunately, this sometimes intrudes on the music (coughs, low level talking in the audience, subway trains in the background) but more often than not reveals a richer tapestry of sound that helps to make the recorded performance seem more real.
The dynamics are spectacular? Not on every record or CD, but certainly on those few that are recorded well. Rhyno has already said much of what can be said with respect to macro dynamics, but the Einstein does equally well with micro dynamics which in my experience is much harder. It also does a nice job of recreating the leading edge of transients and an equal job of recreating the reverberant tail.
The Blowtorch had an ability to recreate a stage that remained stable at least with the right speakers, Rockports for instance, even as you moved about the room. Most other equipment that I have owned did not do this, at least in my system with my speakers. The stage was often wall to wall, particularly with large orchestral works and exhibited extremely good depth. The Einstein also does this but seems to generate denser, more three dimensional images, say the body of a cello or the chest of a singer. The image has somewhat softer edge definition than the Blowtorch but does a better job of creating an illusion of space between instruments.
Transparewnt, accurate, detailed, natural, tonally correct. All adjectives that describe the Einstein; however, none of these truly captures what makes this unit so special. I have noticed that whenever I acquire a new toy, my initial reaction is to spend hours upon hours rediscovering familiar pieces of music. Over time that initial enthusiasm wains, and I find myself listening less and less. On rare ocassions (after purchasing a Crosby modified set of Quad 63's), I find myself actually listening more as time goes on. I often read while I am listening. With the Einstein this is virtually impossible. This preamp refuses to let you casualize the music. It demands your attention. Its not so much that it removes veils (which it does) but that it somehow draws you into and allows you to connect with the music on an emotional level. If a system is truly exceptional, it will catch your attention even when you are in an adjacent room and this is certainly the case with the Einstein. Highly recommended.