TVC Promethius versus Bent

hi bob:

i can't comment on that , but i did audition one, during 2008. i think one of the considerations for me is internal wiring. i generally don't like silver. also, i prefer copper rcas, especially vampire wire.

i would conjecture that my bent would be softer sounding than any promitheus preamp, and therefore, more forgiving of questionable discs.

Wow! The new Bent TAP-X using the Slagle autoformers arrived. Why John does not call it the TAP-AVC I don't know. I did not have the previous generation Bent TVC, but I did have a K&K passive using the S&B MKI transformer and I tried it with my CAT JL2 (now gone) and the Music Reference RM9SE. For some reason the K&K did not float my boat - of course it was good, but I much prefered my Joule LA-150MKII and the Music Reference Pot-in-a-Box (resistor attentuator. This is a different creature, I love it and the Joule is gone. I can't A/B for precise comparisons, but overall the S&B did wow me, this Slagle-based unit does. I have a feeling John is going to succeed with this unit like he did with his NOH and TAP till S&B pulled thr rug out from under him. His new product is his best revenge. Certainly worth a try if your experience ends up being anything like mine.

I meant to say the S&B unit did NOT wow me.

Pubul57, thanks for the news. A lot of people have been waiting for this unit. How is the warmth factor? Particularly in the mid bass? Have you done a back-to-back comparison with an active?

If by midbass you mean cello or standup bass, I would say both the Joule and the K&K were warmer (I found the K&K to be warmer than I expected from a passive). The Bent TAP-X is certainly balanced in that I feel (in my set up)I don't feel anyone part of the spectrum is highlighted or supressed - I get a satisfactory sense of the whole from top to bottom and very realistic sense of both cello on classical pieces and bass on jazz - and fantastic trumpet and sax. That being said, I think it is more neutral that the Joule in the sense of being a bit tighter and defined, and not quite is "loose" and bloomy - to me it seems like well controlled bass with presence and scale, but not in the overtly warm camp. That is with a Music Reference RM9SE amp that while it uses EL34s, remains a very neutral tube amp. Compared with the K&K, I feel a much better sense of soundstage presence and image specificity based on my memory, not a direct A/B.