Tube Preamps...I'm sold

On the subject of tube rolling, I recently changed out my stock tubes in my CAT signature with NOS GE Smooth plates and Russian Rocket tubes in the line section...BIG improvement. The pre-amp was no slouch before, but took on a new life with the swap-out. Far more realistic dynamics, more extension of both ends of the spectrum and less haze.
So, I am wandering how many people have actually heard what is possible with their pre-amp, certainly brings up the question of whether a reviewer has heard what a piece of tube equip under review can do.

Atmasphere, I sure hope you are talking about the MP1 when you mention the bottom octave, because the MP3 up against a BAT 31SE a couple years ago was severely lacking extension at both frequency extremes. Perhaps it was ill but it was a Mpls Atmasphere dealer demo. And the comparison was made at the Mpls BAT dealer and later on, my home. Upon switching from the 31SE to the MP3, the BAT dealer and I just looked at each other with total surprise as we never could have imagined the MP3 to have such issues.

Bart really nails it here on the significant improvements that are possible if the owner is willing to put forth the effort to investigate tube options. With some starting points as advised by Albert, I have taken the Aesthetix Io/Callisto and CAT UII and JL-3's to levels that transform these products far beyond their showroom performance.

Hi Jafox- must be that tube issue :)

FWIW, on the bench, the MP-3 has bandwidth from 1Hz to 400KHz in the line section- quite a bit wider than that of any BAT that we've seen.

The MP-1 has similar bandwidth, but has a lot more authority.

On second thought, the BAT dealer went out of business here some years back, before the 31SE came out. Our local dealer doesn't ship outside his area. So how did you do this audition comparison?

I had an ARC LS5 which I traded for a 30SE after hearing the 31SE at HiFiSound in Mpls. The 30SE to 31SE upgrade was very affordable and I was convinced I would do this upgrade. But I wanted to give the MP3 a shot before I sent my 30SE for the upgrade. As I think more, this was closer to 5 or so years ago. I was thinking it was only a couple years but time flies when you're having fun. 8-)

I went to Audio Perfection to borrow the MP3 demo unit. It was fair to assume it was in good working order, all original tubes, etc.,.....at least I would think so if a dealer is using this to sell such a product. I was not able to hear it there that day but they let me play for the weekend.

I took the MP3 to HiFiSound where Bill (salesman) hooked it up in the very back room with B&W N802 speakers. The amps were Classe mono blocks. As much as Bill and I had such high expectations on the MP3 from all the praise on the Atma amps, to say that we were both disappointed on the MP3's performance would be an understatement. I remember the look we both had when the bottom and top octaves were gone ..... not lacking .... but GONE. A return to the 31SE and we could again here the string bass player going up and down the register. And there was so much detail, decays and ambiance with the 31SE. Music was Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue". Even the ARC LS5 that I had taken there a week before was not so severely destroyed by the 31SE as was the MP3.

Almost forgot - I was able to borrow the 31SE and take it home to compare to the MP3 and my 30SE .... and the results were the same. Ultimately, the MP3 was not my cup of tea.

I have since moved onto the Aesthetix Io and Callisto, and am waiting for the Michael Elliot WV preamp. Perhaps one of these days I will try out the MP1.

John