Ok ok, Ill chime in. Aolivieros last statement was just too tempting to resist. Theres been so much written in this thread that I want to address. So Ill stir up the pot here a bit which I do regularly anyway. 8-)
I have owned the JL-3 Signatures for 8 months now. The first few months I was still using the BAT 31SE line stage. But the last 4+ months I have been using the Aesthetix Callisto Signature. The phono stage for 2+ years has been the Aesthetix Io.
For many months I have wanted to try the CAT preamp in my home system. A couple of times almost panned out but the units were sold before I had a chance. I will still continue to try and find a way to hear either the Ultimate or the upcoming Legend, as either a line stage or preferably a full function preamp.
If there is indeed a house sound with CAT products, adding a CAT preamp with the JL-3s would most likely be too much in one direction for me. Its not a matter of too much of a good thing but perhaps rather too much emphasis by a designer to achieve a set of goals and other areas not getting as much attention. Assembling a system is all about achieving a balance of extension and control at the frequency extremes, low noise floor and low-level resolution, tonal coherency and dynamic contrasts to portrayal of space, decays, harmonic overtones, etc. Has anyone out there heard one product which redefines the state of the art in every one of these categories?
I have no doubt that Strapper211s system sounds phenomenal. But I have no idea what is meant by the CAT preamp being the best match vs. the other preamps he auditioned or owned. A little more detail as to exactly the benefits, or simply tonally or dimensional differences, would be of great value to the reader.
On the issue of lean, this is ultimately defined a bit differently by each of us. When I heard the CAT JL-2 amp vs. the Atmasphere MA1s, I felt the JL-2 was indeed lean! The MA1s were more full and rich in the lower mids. And this I loved. Were they more accurate or less so? Who cares! And yet, the CAT had an awesome dynamic contrast, see through quality and initial attack that impressed me so greatly. But again, was this a more accurate rendition of the real thing? With all the processing of our LPs and CDs through the recording and manufacturing process, how will we ever know what is accurate or neutral to know how the sound was at the day of the recording? We get so wrapped up on the silly terminology when the focus really is whether or not that each component and ultimately the assembled system gets us one step closer to the real event in our own mind.
The strengths described of the CAT amp above are what drew me to purchasing CAT amps. But in the back of my mind, I wanted that fullness and presence in the vocals that was so impressively portrayed by the Atmasphere amps. For me, the Aesthetix products were a perfect match at the system level. As two local (Minneapolis) audiophiles (Jadem6 and Artg) can attest, the combination of the Aesthetix Jupiter models with the JL-3s driving Sound Lab A1s with the Clearaudio Ref TT as source is nothing short of phenomenal.
The Aesthetix products are incredible in the areas of 3-dimensionality. They piano notes and decays beautifully. It only takes one trip upstairs to hit a piano note and take notice that the Aesthetix get it right. So very few line stages or preamps, solid state or tube, do this accurately. And I have no wanting of bass as JD and I have both been overwhelmed with the Callisto handling the low end like no tube preamp either of us has auditioned in our systems. And there is a wonderful openness and extension in the trebles as well that my previous BAT 31SE and ARC LS5 II/III did not even come close to approaching.
I will go out on a limb and predict that the CAT preamps may indeed have a lower noise floor and possibly a greater degree of low-level resolution than the Aesthetix. But I highly doubt the CAT will portray the volume of space and decays anything close to the Aesthetix. And this to me alone is worth the price of admission. Once you hear the piano or a guitarist occupying space on the stage with the Aesthetix, you know something is right. Is having this quality a coloration? If it is, sign me up.
Each of us is chasing a system sound that fits our own set of priorities. The two local audiophiles I mentioned above have very different systems than mine and yet when I have gone to their home, the sound has been so incredible. I hear things there that I do not hear at my home and vice versa. To gain in one area often results in a loss in another. But I would never characterize their systems as being mismatched or too lean or fat, or colored, or whatever. There is no absolute here contrary to the claims by many magazine reviewers.
When I do finally get a chance to try out a CAT preamp here, and if I prefer the Aesthetix models or the upcoming full function Aria preamp, it will not be because my system has a problem elsewhere! For someone to say this is due to a system mismatch or problem is ridiculous. And because I preferred another preamp over the CAT here, and thus disagreed with other posts here, for this to imply my system was mismatched again would be ridiculous.
Its not a matter of one product working in a system or not, or my system having a problem elsewhere but rather how closely the end system result matches what I want from a system. And for those who are convinced that one product is more neutral or transparent, yada yada yada, over another, well thats fine. But theres a lot more going on in the music that many such people never experience until they hear the likes of the Aesthetix Jupiter products. And again, with the CAT amps, this is awesome.
I think anyone who buys one product simply because they already have products by that same company, and they dismiss other competing products is only cheating themselves. There are simply far too many impressive products out there that deserve our time rather than to dismiss solely on the basis of whos the manufacturer.
And if you have not already realized it, I think Ken Stevens has the most impressive amps by quite a stretch. Only time will tell if his preamp captures my attention the same way. But for now, the sound I have is mighty fine.
John
I have owned the JL-3 Signatures for 8 months now. The first few months I was still using the BAT 31SE line stage. But the last 4+ months I have been using the Aesthetix Callisto Signature. The phono stage for 2+ years has been the Aesthetix Io.
For many months I have wanted to try the CAT preamp in my home system. A couple of times almost panned out but the units were sold before I had a chance. I will still continue to try and find a way to hear either the Ultimate or the upcoming Legend, as either a line stage or preferably a full function preamp.
If there is indeed a house sound with CAT products, adding a CAT preamp with the JL-3s would most likely be too much in one direction for me. Its not a matter of too much of a good thing but perhaps rather too much emphasis by a designer to achieve a set of goals and other areas not getting as much attention. Assembling a system is all about achieving a balance of extension and control at the frequency extremes, low noise floor and low-level resolution, tonal coherency and dynamic contrasts to portrayal of space, decays, harmonic overtones, etc. Has anyone out there heard one product which redefines the state of the art in every one of these categories?
I have no doubt that Strapper211s system sounds phenomenal. But I have no idea what is meant by the CAT preamp being the best match vs. the other preamps he auditioned or owned. A little more detail as to exactly the benefits, or simply tonally or dimensional differences, would be of great value to the reader.
On the issue of lean, this is ultimately defined a bit differently by each of us. When I heard the CAT JL-2 amp vs. the Atmasphere MA1s, I felt the JL-2 was indeed lean! The MA1s were more full and rich in the lower mids. And this I loved. Were they more accurate or less so? Who cares! And yet, the CAT had an awesome dynamic contrast, see through quality and initial attack that impressed me so greatly. But again, was this a more accurate rendition of the real thing? With all the processing of our LPs and CDs through the recording and manufacturing process, how will we ever know what is accurate or neutral to know how the sound was at the day of the recording? We get so wrapped up on the silly terminology when the focus really is whether or not that each component and ultimately the assembled system gets us one step closer to the real event in our own mind.
The strengths described of the CAT amp above are what drew me to purchasing CAT amps. But in the back of my mind, I wanted that fullness and presence in the vocals that was so impressively portrayed by the Atmasphere amps. For me, the Aesthetix products were a perfect match at the system level. As two local (Minneapolis) audiophiles (Jadem6 and Artg) can attest, the combination of the Aesthetix Jupiter models with the JL-3s driving Sound Lab A1s with the Clearaudio Ref TT as source is nothing short of phenomenal.
The Aesthetix products are incredible in the areas of 3-dimensionality. They piano notes and decays beautifully. It only takes one trip upstairs to hit a piano note and take notice that the Aesthetix get it right. So very few line stages or preamps, solid state or tube, do this accurately. And I have no wanting of bass as JD and I have both been overwhelmed with the Callisto handling the low end like no tube preamp either of us has auditioned in our systems. And there is a wonderful openness and extension in the trebles as well that my previous BAT 31SE and ARC LS5 II/III did not even come close to approaching.
I will go out on a limb and predict that the CAT preamps may indeed have a lower noise floor and possibly a greater degree of low-level resolution than the Aesthetix. But I highly doubt the CAT will portray the volume of space and decays anything close to the Aesthetix. And this to me alone is worth the price of admission. Once you hear the piano or a guitarist occupying space on the stage with the Aesthetix, you know something is right. Is having this quality a coloration? If it is, sign me up.
Each of us is chasing a system sound that fits our own set of priorities. The two local audiophiles I mentioned above have very different systems than mine and yet when I have gone to their home, the sound has been so incredible. I hear things there that I do not hear at my home and vice versa. To gain in one area often results in a loss in another. But I would never characterize their systems as being mismatched or too lean or fat, or colored, or whatever. There is no absolute here contrary to the claims by many magazine reviewers.
When I do finally get a chance to try out a CAT preamp here, and if I prefer the Aesthetix models or the upcoming full function Aria preamp, it will not be because my system has a problem elsewhere! For someone to say this is due to a system mismatch or problem is ridiculous. And because I preferred another preamp over the CAT here, and thus disagreed with other posts here, for this to imply my system was mismatched again would be ridiculous.
Its not a matter of one product working in a system or not, or my system having a problem elsewhere but rather how closely the end system result matches what I want from a system. And for those who are convinced that one product is more neutral or transparent, yada yada yada, over another, well thats fine. But theres a lot more going on in the music that many such people never experience until they hear the likes of the Aesthetix Jupiter products. And again, with the CAT amps, this is awesome.
I think anyone who buys one product simply because they already have products by that same company, and they dismiss other competing products is only cheating themselves. There are simply far too many impressive products out there that deserve our time rather than to dismiss solely on the basis of whos the manufacturer.
And if you have not already realized it, I think Ken Stevens has the most impressive amps by quite a stretch. Only time will tell if his preamp captures my attention the same way. But for now, the sound I have is mighty fine.
John