Jeff Rowland Capri preamp

Dave - Ditto

Pinkus, I agree with you about Capri not being a tube surrogate. Only its general lack of 'grain' reminds me a little of some tube designs. While I do admit that I personally prefer Capri over Ref 3 based on a few parameters that are important to me, I must stress that this is purely a matter of a narrowly defined a/b 'preference', and never one of Capri inherently 'being better' than anything else, or by extension. . . it being an 'absolute best.' G.

Guido, hopefully we all recognize this. You have written some very good comparisons and review information on the Capri. I find your overall sentiments abouts its performance to be accurate. Everybody should (without even saying so) recognize that your comments pertaining to IT vs. the Ref 3 is subjective and based on your priorities. I, for one, certainly do not feel you owe any explanations or justifications for your statements.

I was one of the guys whocalled the Capri "tube-like". Frankly it just seemed the easiest way to characterize it because of the Capri's inherent musicality, sweetness and texture. It's just a sweet little amp and the description is more a short hand than a literal description. Plus between your typical SS and Tube, it definitely leans more on the tube side but on the SS side it has drive, resolution, authority and bass, ergo my initial description "the sweetness and musicality of tubes with the drive of solid state".

Even though it gives me pause (yuck), I agree with your shorthand, but "tube sound" is so broad that it is dangerous. As you know, some tube amps are very colored and euphonic, particularly at the less expensive end of the "quality" scale. Many, IMHO, are designed with the attitude of "let give them what they want" rather than with a view toward accuracy.

Unfortunately, when many hear "tube-like" I'm afraid that euphonia the image counjured up. People with that image in there heads (I venture to say that's roughly half our readers here) will likely be sorely disappointed in the Capri. The Capri will NOT smooth out the hardness of their cheap CDP or DAC and they'll report something like, "the Capri is hard edged sounding in my system, but my XYZ amp is 'musical'". (Neither will the "best" tube preamps, which is what I think you're referring to).

Dave