CAT SL1 vs Modwright LS 36.5

Daveyf, Vinyl is my source of choice and always has been. I've gone for years at a time without digital because it always left me bored and wanting. Yes I have a fairly decent vinyl rig; Galibier Gavia table w/Stelvio armboard, latest Tri-Planar VII arm and Dynavector XV-1s cartridge. It feeds my MP-1's phono, which to my ears, is right up there with some of the best. My last couple CAT's were mated with a Klyne 7PX3.5 phono; an exceptionally good unit which I really hated to sell.

If I had the room for three more large boxes, I might be tempted to go with JWM's Aesthtix Io Sig. with dual power supplies. Through it, vinyl sounds sublime! Problem is, I don't have the room nor do I want to deal with all those extra tubes.

Bottom line, none of us are judging the CAT based on just digital source though I'll grant you, it does sound better with vinyl. It's $500 add on phono stage is basically an afterthought for those who may want to listen to records but it won't do justice to LOMC's.

Yes our MMV and as Charles said, it's great that you're completely happy with both of your CATs. I was pretty happy too when I owned mine but the MP-1 ultimately won me over. I've had it for quite a while now and have never been happier with what I'm hearing; vinyl or digital.

Happy listening!

Clarrie, just to complete my thoughts on this thread, I would HIGHLY recommend that you listen for yourself to the CAT and any other preamp you are considering. Preferably in your own system. Clearly, my experience and the other posters on this thread differs. I suspect that IF you were to ask ten a'philes what they thought of the differences between the preamps mentioned, you would get eleven different responses. Charles1dad is a Coincident fanboy, good for him, BUT I have heard almost all of their gear, and it does absolutely nothing for me. Use your ears and your own judgement and IMHO, that is the way to audio enlightenment.

Clarrie I think it`s very clear that preferences can vary significantly.I`ll join the chorus and state the obvious, listen for yourself when/if possible and trust your ears and your spontaneous reactions. If you do that you won`t go wrong.There`s no shortage of excellent audio gear available and you`ll find just what you want.
Best Regards,

Well one of my reservation for CAT is no XLR. I heard my Pass X250.5 with XLR and is much better than RCA. Just wondering if CAT without XLR how would it sound with my Pass...

well, i've not heard the Atma-sphere MP-1 so I cannot comment on its sonics; someday I will hear that preamp....
As far as the CAT preamp goes, I've owned a SL-1 Sig Mk3 for many years & at present I own a SL-1 Renaissance. Both preamps, IMHO, are stellar as they give you the music straight-up without beating around the bush. I used Tele 12AX7s in the line-stage & Amperex 7308 in the line stage as well. In the phono stage I use the factory supplied tubes as I do not think that I can do better. NOS is not an option - too noisy & stupid-expensive for ultra quiet NOS tubes.

As for tube rolling, I always ran NOS, mostly Tele's, but the forward, aggressive character remained.

this does not sound right. In all the years of listening to the CAT sonics, I cannot call the presentation forward nor aggressive. you *must* have had some other distortion in your system that the MP-1 smoothed out.

JWM and Charles are exactly right, as much as I liked all my CATs, every one of them came across sounding a bit lean and cool. When pushed, the sound became hard and aggressive.

once again, something does not sound right. you must have had some other distortion in your system that you remain unaware of.

No way the MP-1 is "diffuse and colored". What nonsense!

well, you guys are trading punches so do respect the other fellows opinion. It's not diffuse or coloured to you but it is to him; the CAT is aggresive, cool & forward to you. Each of you has an opinion; I'd say it's par for the course....

But... none of them can be compared to a good VAC or a fairly recent MP-1.

I cannot comment on the MP-1 but I've heard some VAC units at a friend's house (I cannot recall the exact model name) & at shows. Plus, I have the opinion of my friend who used to work for VAC some time back designing circuits for amps & preamps - I respect this person's opinion highly. As you know, You cannot make judgements on gear at shows as the environment is so out-of-control but I can easily say (from my in-home listening experience) that VAC sonics do not come close to the CAT sonics. The VAC sonics, in my mind, are definitely more coloured. If that suits your tastes, well & good.

well, I think all of us have laid out our respective opinions (& more!). hopefully this is enough info for the OP to make his short-list. It does not matter to me what he selects finally - CAT or VAC or J-E or something else. In the end, he has to enjoy his own system that he needs to build for his tastes. If we like what he builds that's just a bonus for the OP.....