Preamp Deal of the Century

Wow, Dennis_the_menace, he already has your Syrah in his system? Did you fly it over to Canada for him? Hahah. I wonder if he allowed for adequate break in and synergizing?

But indeed, it is helpful to hear other perspectives.

Hey Dean... we used FedEx Intl Economy Air.. took about 2 days, but man it was pricey. Worth it though, I'd rather have something arrive safe, and be trackable, then to have it get lost in customs. The unit was mine, so it was completely broken in, and in terms of synergizing, maybe it was bad synergy? but I feel that a good preamp should make any system better, no?

has anyone read the Jan 05 6moons review of the Sauvignon?

Jazzdude,

I had tried comparing my passive preamp vs.connecting the CD player directly to the poweramp. Both setups were very transparent but the CD direct setup had a slight edge over the passive pre. When the Cabernet was in the chain, I did not feel any loss of details and it was as transparent as the CD direct setup, but the good part was it sounded like a super passive pre with steroid (and lots of PRAT, too).

BTW, I am using APL SACD-1000 as my source.

As far as my listening experince goes, I am listening to MUSIC now. The Cabernet really brings out the emotion of a well recorded CD. Too bad the PX4 could not be replaced but look at the brigther side, you save more money to buy CDs. I did ask Mick to change my power unit to accept 300B's as well. Mick said the 300B's only give you a different sound and not necessary "better". Ask the Man if you would like to know more. All in all I'm happy with the TJPX4 tubes that I bought a backup pair recenlty.

Cheers,
Kenji

Ongkaku - IMO 'no preamp'/passive preamp is the best reference for determining neutrality and transparency of a component. Your findings are similar to mine. This is the big reason I haven't replaced the volume pot or otherwise modded my supratek. For me and my system I am not convinced that the difference will be worth it. But I am very happy for those who replaced the volume pot and were pleased with the result.