2. amps-preamps
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TRL Dude or Joule 150 MKII for Major Pre Upgrade

Thinking of either of these for what I view as a huge pre upgrade in my system. Current system is:

-Celestion A3
-Krell KAV250a (500 wpc/4 ohms).
-Nohr CD-1
-Rotel 995 preamp

I am looking to pickup warmth, depth and much more soundstage. Quality bass is also important to me. I want to keep the Celestions and feel that my current pre is the weakest link. Will also will update my digital source and ss amp down the road.

My thinking is that it will be worth paying up a bit for a higher quality pre that I can grow into.

Also I have a small naive question...with either of these pre amps will the sound difference be that great compared to the Rotel.

Thanks...any comments are appreciated.

-Iggy
iggy7
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Pubul57,
You make some very good points,and yes nothing beats a personal audition. I`m familiar with the CAT linestage but I`d take the TRL Dude if given a choice. I find the Dude more'natural' the Cat in my experience is more 'hifi' in presentation. bUT of course YMMV.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Yes TRL has been building great gear for decades an my Dude has been flawless in sound and performance since day one! Both Dudes I have owned.

Paul answers his phone and will always get back right away and help. I must say this is not true of all small "one man" companies. I have still not heard back from Roger at Music Reference and I emailed/called to actually buy his amps - RM10.I decided to buy another amp now. He is one example and unfortunately I know of many others in this business. Paul will respond to customers.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
There is a review of the Dude here with a photo showing dual volume controls, the one on TRL's site has one, are there two models?
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
The Dude I borrowed for a few days last month had dual volume controls and is a recent model.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
$4,000 direct? I like the dual controls!

It is true the Roger is not the fastest responder, but his equipment make the
wait worthwhile - I think he has hired an assistant to handle e-mail and phone
inquiries, but it does seem to take 24 hours to hear back.

Grannyring, do you have photos of the Dudes innards you could share?
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