I’ve had "The Truth" in my system for a couple of months now driving a First Watt SIT 3 into Cube Nenuphars. I love it. It does everything and way more that I had hoped for. I have always sought a purist approach. I listen to 90% acoustic music, classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk. My electric music tastes run to Steely Dan or old Santana. Clean beautiful sounds. My system does not play grungy distortion well. The Truth is pure spring water. It’s quirky but brilliant.
The designer builder is Ed Schilling. I spoke with him extensively as he was building my preamp. He has very strong right wing views. He actually asked me if I wanted to cancel my order because of his beliefs. I live in Texas, these views are nothing foreign to me. I wouldn’t dream of throwing the baby out with the bath water by denying myself what is no doubt the best preamp for me because the guy who builds it has extreme views. I can’t afford the Bespoke Audio. I considered the Emia then went with Salvatore’s wisdom.
Schilling believes he has been blackballed by the audio media due to his beliefs. I guess this is possible but I think general acceptance of The Truth preamp has more to do with first its niche market as as a no gain pre and then its funky diy appearance. BTW Emia does the same thing. Ugly on the outside, superlative sound comes from the inside. Emia probably doesn’t sell a lot of finished autoformer preamps. I would guess Emia’s main income is from the diy community. Slagle has a cool factor that Schilling doesn’t seem interested in.
To wrap up, I think tribalism is a problem, not a solution. I believe we are all in this together and any solution that is a real solution has to include everyone as an equally valid voice. Condemning each other for opinion will never solve anything. Ed Schilling designed one of the worlds great audio solutions. If it were in a shiny box it could easy cost several times more. "The Truth" preamp is an integral part of my grail system.
The designer builder is Ed Schilling. I spoke with him extensively as he was building my preamp. He has very strong right wing views. He actually asked me if I wanted to cancel my order because of his beliefs. I live in Texas, these views are nothing foreign to me. I wouldn’t dream of throwing the baby out with the bath water by denying myself what is no doubt the best preamp for me because the guy who builds it has extreme views. I can’t afford the Bespoke Audio. I considered the Emia then went with Salvatore’s wisdom.
Schilling believes he has been blackballed by the audio media due to his beliefs. I guess this is possible but I think general acceptance of The Truth preamp has more to do with first its niche market as as a no gain pre and then its funky diy appearance. BTW Emia does the same thing. Ugly on the outside, superlative sound comes from the inside. Emia probably doesn’t sell a lot of finished autoformer preamps. I would guess Emia’s main income is from the diy community. Slagle has a cool factor that Schilling doesn’t seem interested in.
To wrap up, I think tribalism is a problem, not a solution. I believe we are all in this together and any solution that is a real solution has to include everyone as an equally valid voice. Condemning each other for opinion will never solve anything. Ed Schilling designed one of the worlds great audio solutions. If it were in a shiny box it could easy cost several times more. "The Truth" preamp is an integral part of my grail system.