Preamp Deal of the Century

Tok20000 - you and I have talked about this so YOU know I am still on that analog high baby!! However I presume that eventually I will come down and get back into digital - in one way or another. I remember having a lot of fun with digital - messing with several interconnects and PC combos. Truth is without all the remote features of a CD player, its a tedious process to audition analog setups - and not much fun from a "shape your sound" stand point.

My big gripe with digital right now is that there is just so much missing on a CD. Yes... there are great recordings and Yes.. there are fantastic players but... The CD itself is the problem. I find that no powercord can replace the atmosphere lost in a recording when it is compressed to fit a CD.

As you go up the chain of great CD players, you'll find that each is much the same as a digital effects processor and as a result has its own sonic signature. Tounge in cheek, I guess it wont be long before Sony has a button that switches their gear between the "Levinson effect", "Krell effect", "Conrad Johnson effect" or Audio Note effect.... or even 37,000 MBL Effects. :)

Digital is an illusion.

Jazzdude, it should only take a day or two to clear customs. In my experience FedEx occasionally requires a few forms to be filled out for international delivery. Perhaps you should contact FedEx and see what's going on.

Also - they have been known to refund shipping costs AND waive the duties when this type of error occurs.

Streetdaddy... Check out www.acousticsounds.com and you'll find some great "new" and re-release LPs.

What type of music do you like?

Jazzdude, I also had to complete a form received from Fed Exp. to get it released from customs. So contact them if you have not received a release form.

TOK, you're right, juice makes all the difference with Digital. Its just tough to tell someone who wants a bit better CD player that he should also load mucho bucks into a power cord. I remember when I wrote this review in TAS on the ESP cord (ten years ago - damn it, I'm soooo old!!). Not much was out yet - the Positive Feedback crowd was just onto PC's - and people were still slinging arrows over IC's. I got a ton-o-grief off that piece from people who just didn't think wire was "technology" or was a "component" (which is what I said then), so I know its very tough to get people to go there, even now. Frankly, in the beginning it was tough to get me to go there! A year later, however, there I was with a PS Audio Lambda II transport, power filtering devices, dedicated lines, ground post, the Timber DAC getting all kinds of treatment, going through a year long digital cable shootout that nearly drove me crazy, and an audit and tactic digital "interface" stuck between the transport and DAC - four PC's in all just for the CD "player"!!

Like analog, digital takes work, even when convenience is one of your motives (its one of mine!)and I'm sure the Burmester is very fine (I haven't hear it, but I'd be taken by surprise if those factors above were ameliorated to a sufficient degree - but I'm always willing to see!), but for the bucks vs. performance vs. involvement, its hard to slight what we have in analog now.

And that's where the Syrah comes in: you get a verey, very good line stage but with a great phono stage for a pittance, and overall, a great product that many people would never touch because its not in the mags, and performance that they might have never touched if they had been forced to pony up big bucks for a mag-touted pre.

I'm sorry its taking so long to get units; its very frustrating. I warned Mick about this, but also respected his position that he wanted to make them himself at a pace that would ensure each one was what he expetcted it to be. I guess its the difference between manufacturer and craftsman, but I do understand the frustration...