Wyetech Jade and TRL Dude

I have been lucky that a local dealer i have bought things from has let me demo most things in my home, from cables to preamps and amps. a couple of weeks ago i home-demoed a pre-amp he built from all vintage parts old using western electric 311 tubes. unreal, but also real expensive. but it is a pleasure to have a place where you can hear that kind of stuff and someone you can rely on

Gary, I missed your post above. Congrats on purchasing the Dude. I don't think you will be disappointed. It is hard to know if it is better than the Jade in an absolute sense. If the Dude does not float your boat, you can always snag a Jade in the future. I will have to check out the Sylvanias. I tried the Raytheons initially and they did not do it for me. It is conceivable I did not have the optimal Raytheon as they come in different flavors. There is an "organ grade" tube that is supposedly optimal. All that being said, it is better to buy from a reputable tube dealer. I tried buying a few Raytheons on Ebay and regretted it. I know the Weitzels would be interested your tube rolling experiences. You should mention this to them.

I own a Dude Preamp -- though I can't make comments on the Jade, I do know that the Dude is the real deal. I had high expectations after speaking with Andrew and Pat about The Dude and there was not a single moment where I wasn't enthralled with the performance.

I spent the evening at Andrews place last weekend demoing his Intuitive Design Summits and Dude preamp... the Dude is a performer everywhere no question about it. I'll be posting my review in the coming weeks.

For what it's worth I'm a huge fan of Audio Horizons pre amps and I correspond with a couple of guys that used to own them and have the same opinion.Both have moved on to the Dude,one has had one for awhile the other will be taking delivery shortly.
Both are seasoned audiophiles,the Dude must be something special.