Frankpiet, I think your dealer is a little off base! The volume control in the Calypso is descreet resistors of very high quality. It is dual mono throughout. It must work because it sure sounds a hell of a lot better than the Ayre K5xe and personally, I think it sounds better than the K1xe. Can't beat tubes.
The Calypso is only outperformed by a handful of preamps available. I have made direct comparisons to many of them.
It is made of premium parts throughout(actually unbelievable quality considering the asking price and I really don't know how you would improve on it.) It makes the Ayre look cheap! Buy what you want is all I can say. It's certainly your money.
If you think the ones you have mentioned above outperform it---go for it!
The Calypso is only outperformed by a handful of preamps available. I have made direct comparisons to many of them.
It is made of premium parts throughout(actually unbelievable quality considering the asking price and I really don't know how you would improve on it.) It makes the Ayre look cheap! Buy what you want is all I can say. It's certainly your money.
If you think the ones you have mentioned above outperform it---go for it!