Preamp shootout: Joule, CJ, BAT

Good piece macinman, I did a similar shoot out about three or four years ago and ended up buying the Joule. It truly is one of the finer preamps out there. However there is a piece that literally blew my mind and that was the Atma-Sphere MP-3, when compared to the Joule directly it stomped it in dynamics, soundstaging, bass control and was more extended on the top. It was quite a difference and yes I was one of the fools who sold my Joule for about 1500.00. I ended up buying the MP-1 MKII and couldn't be happier although I still wish I had the Joule for the bedroom system . One caveat to all this was that I was and am still running the Atma-Sphere amps so there may be a synergistic match going on here, and yes I raced the preamps in the single ended mode. Another great thing about the Joule is the owners Jud and MaryAnne (they're the best)

Macinman,

Question regarding the martin logan / rels. Looking to sell? Send me some email at dbw1@rcn.com if so, can't seem to get your email address to work.

Fascinating thread, how do you guys or gals think the Joule would mate with a Classe amp? I'm currently running CJ but about to upgrade, possibly to CJ17, but haven't heard in my system. Thanks.

Yes, Bryceeboy, you are hearing synergy - which is a good thing. Also, Karsten is very high on balanced, even believes cable irrelevant in his balanced configuration, which, of course doesn't mean that's true (its not), but means that Karsten's pieces are "voiced" for that connection and, particularly, to each other. Try to go to balanced if you can. I loved the MP-1 for a lot of the same reasons as the Joule, but it was darker, even with VTL amps. Nice space, though; phono was ravishing. I haven't heard the MP3. One thing people don't know about the Joule: its dynamically compressed without a power cord that juices it. This was a problem with MkI Joule (compressed & remote; PC wouldn't help), less so with Purist wire in MkII, and alleviated by higher output tube sub in Mk III. Electraglide FatBoy transforms Joule MkIII's dynamics and puts this pre in those upper echelons in that regard. Yes, Jud & Marianne are saints. A quality not to be diminished when looking to buy.

No, not selling anything. My yahoo account seems to be screwed up. Thanks for letting me know. I've told them and maybe will have it fixed (I think they've laid off so many people in that unit in this economic downturn that they may have sabotaged accounts!) I agree with Asa. The power cord has to be bigger--and the owner's manual suggests trying one. I found any cord, just any HUGE cord does the trick. One thing I forgot to mention is that the remote is excellent piece of engineering. DIGITAL internal remotes (which is how most manufacturers do it....Levinson, Krell, etc) causes subtle degradation of the sound....all my techie friends say the mechanical way used by Joule eliminates it.) It now comes stock with purist wiring (used to be an added cost) and it is an absolute steal. There are tons of equipment junkies out there (I'm recovering junkie myself) who sell whatever they own, just because they (me too) have some extra cash and just need a new "fix"--it has nothing to do with the actual quality of the equipment. I know. I had a perfect sounding system 2 years ago and sold for no real reason, except the desire to own something new. Take advantage of us nuts and don't hesitate for a minute buying certain items. I read a post here yesterday from a member who sold his Meridian 508 and never got the magic back in his sound. He mentioned Paul Seydor's praise of the Meridian 508 as the best redbook player. Period. It's in the current issue of Absolute Sound under his recommended system. I did the exact same thing! Sold it. Bought a Dodson. Traded it. Bought a Sony SACD. Sold it. Bought a Micromega. Sold it. Bought a Perpetual. Sold it. (Not to mention the Mephisto, CEC transports, etc.) Swallowed my pride and went out and bought another Meridian after talking to them to see if I should buy the NEW Meridian or the "old" 508. They unhesitatingly (shocking for a manufacturer!) told me that the 508 was better and only discontinued because they couldn't source the transport mechanism, but that it represented the pinnacle of what they could achieve in digital. Period. I bought and I'm keeping. The magic is back. Proves that there are some good bargains under the $4000 range. In fact, if you pay attention to serious posters instead of instigators around here, you could easily assemble a Hall of Fame system used/as new from equipment whores: Meridian 508, Merlin VSMs, Joule electronics. And leave everyone looking for audio nirvana by mismatching components from companies that are barely in business! (My Perpetual was so cranky, for example, and the build quality not up to snuff, that I doubt this company will last any longer than their previous incarnation as Audio Alchemy. Yes, I was stupid enough to read the hype and bought that stuff too, once upon a time. Junk and no customer support. Similarly, my CEC from Audio Advisor, try to get that one fixed. No parts in stock. We're waiting on that part from Malaysia. Yada, yada, yada. ) Stick with the classics whose owners you can talk to! Even though they argue with you a bit when you tell them something is wrong at CJ, they do repair it, though bills are high. For customer support Joule, Merlin has a fabulous rep, PS audio does too, Mesa Baron has incredible support, the old CAL--Arthur's original company, etc. ARC was good on the phone (they hired CALs tech guy) though like CJ repair was expensive. I wish more posts on customer support and the bills you get for repair.

PS There is another thread here in digital where Meridian told another couple of posters the same thing. Wow! How unusual a company to tell the truth over marketing a new product with hype of "bigger, stronger, faster, etc."