Modwright SWL 9.0SE Preamplifier

Why do you see these for sale all the time?

Phd...good question. I've been watching these for several months ever since reading Srajan's rave review at 6 moons. Hardly a week goes by that there isn't one, sometimes two, for sale on A'gon for as low as $1250 so far. Makes one wonder. Perhaps someone who has owned and then sold could tell us what they didn't like about it. Of course I understand that many here are never happy with anything for very long and just need to try the next hot item. Srajan seems like a pretty good source as reviewers go and a number of other reviews are equally enthusiastic.

Tswhitsel, yes that is true that some folks are never happy with anything or perhaps, like you mentioned, they want to try the next hot item, which I myself have been guilty of. In fact I've been wanting to hear the Modwright 9.0 preamp, maybe more info will be shared on this thread as to its attributes.

A friend had one and loved it but decided he wanted to get Musical Fidelity equipment and purchased the KW500 integrated amp. He waited to sell the Modwright until he was sure he would like the MF unit. I had listened to it several times and thought it was an amazing unit in his system. It was very neutral with the original tubes but you could change the overall sound by rolling tubes.

Ahhhhhhh!

Maybe, kind of, sort of the reason they are sold??

OC type owners may go nuts with the ability and freedom to roll tubes.

My friend did end up purchasing five other pairs of tubes and one pair was very expensive (Bendix, I think). He asked me to participate in a roll tube audition and after rolling them I told him I liked the orginal ones the best. Go figure!

He has hung onto the tubes just in case he needs them with a future change or something. Don't we all have those items tucked away in a drawer, closet or a spare bedroom. lol

I own the SWL 9.0SE (one of the first production units). I'm a big Dan Wright fan, also owning his Modwright 3910 Signature universal player, and previously the modded out 999ES Platinum Signature. His work is genius and relatively inexpensive. In the world of $2k preamps his is a marvel. The tube "sound" is there, but only in that it is a very analog (not overly warm, just perfect) crystal clear picture window into any recording you put through it. Soundstage and detail are state of the art. Tube rolling is somewhat an option, but I've learned to stick with the Tung Sols or Jan Phillips that Dan espouses. I tried Hal-O hi-heat tube dampers for awhile but frankly like the pre without them. The newest BlackSands Violet PC sounds incredible with it. The SWL has a remote volume control, and has an HT bypass (I'm proud to say I pushed that feature and Dan complied) that proves invaluable in my home theater and 2 channels setup, keeping the signal paths separate. The only thing I wish it had was a phase switch (it inverts phase normally). Dan's work is incredible, and his customer support and willingness to go the extra mile are the main reasons I will always have a "Modwright wins all ties" attitude. Next up, his production release of his phono stage, available both stand-alone or internal to the preamp.

Ted_B