Tube Research Labs Dude vs. Shindo Labs preamps

That's fair I suppose. I would have loved to demo both in my system but unfortunately that's not possible without buying. If someone wants to bring their Monbrison or Masseto over to my place (NYC) we can do a honest A/B comparison :)

C'mon now somebody must want to go to NY this thread is just gettin way too good.

Ahendler, kool system. I spent 11 years in MN (Maggie country) and always enjoyed hearing them. Are the antique amps able to drive them adequately? You also seem to have a tight and narrow listening space. My friends who owned them always struggled a little in setup....

Latin, when are you actually receiving your Tron?

"honest A/B"

No such thing imho. A system is a system and needs to be tuned and set up carefully which takes time- more time than an A/B allows. Plus, in your system we'd only learn what your amps + pre-amp + speakers + source + cables + your room do... which might be helpful to you but not others with totally different variables. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard a component fail in comparison to a known lesser unit due to limitations of the system- even Shindo versus higher end Shindo. One can make the analogy to that of a plumbing system... if its draining slowly or clogged, sending more water through isn't going to make things better.

Slow and soggy isn't musical. Musical is often a misnomer for exactly that. Musical is when you forget about the system and hear the music. Gone is the thought process or descriptors. You're correct, 99% of the time people use musical to describe softness, overly warm etc. I would agree that this would be quite boring.