Coincident Linestage vs CJ CT5 or Allnic L-3000

Wilsynet,
Congratulations! Of course I agree with your early impressions(it will continue to improve with time).The CSL is a world class line stage and legitimately competes with the very best irrespective of cost.Did you own a Shindo preamp at one time?Sorry if I confused you with another gon member.I find it difficult to listen to with a critical mind set.The natural sound and emotional involvement it provides just pulls you into the music,completely.
Regards,

Yes, I owned a Shindo Aurieges for a little while. Vocals are superb but otherwise it was a bit too romantic for me, murky and veiled compared to a Lightspeed LDR, a TRL Dude, an Atma-sphere MP-3 and the CSL.

My I understanding is that the more expensive Shindo preamps are also more transparent.

By way of comparison to the CSL:

From my memory only, the Atma-sphere MP-3 has a bit more drive and bass impact and I recall is a bit more extended. But also the MP-3 has a higher noise floor, a bit of tube hiss and was (in my antiquated house) somewhat sensitive to dirty power and voltage sags.

TRL Dude is more romantic, a bit more tonally colorful (which I liked). But its size (truly gigantic) and proportions (the volume knob is bigger than the palm of my hand), its outrageous style (the word "Dude" is what, 4" tall?) make it inappropriate in a shared space. If I were to ever have a dedicated listening room, the TRL would go back on the short list.

The CSL is characteristically in between the TRL Dude and the MP-3. But neither in my opinion are as neutral and balanced in presentation as the CSL.

Build quality is first rate, switches feel robust and expensive. Quiet, noiseless, unfussy. I feel it will endure a lifetime of use, or at least 20 or 30 years without a thought.

My wife, who has better ears than me, says its her favorite preamp so far and thinks the system sounds wonderful. Either that or she's finally tired of me swapping out gear ...

Hi everyone, my first post at AG.
After reading the online rewievs and some threads at this forum,
I decided to order the CSLS. Audition was not an option since I live
in Sweden. Well, it finally arrived and yes, I'm in love. It has about
100 hours of break in now. I sit here with the silly " I'm in love smile "
and some tears in between. The short story is that the CSLS will make
you love your music more. It is so natural and emotional.
Special thanks to Charles1dad. Your post about the CSLS gave me
confidence to go for it!!! Everything you and others said about it is true.
If you ever come to Sweden you will have free beer at my place.
Anybody out there who has experience runing it balanced ?
I do but never heard through the RCA in/utputs.

Best regards,
Mikko
Sweden

Wilsynet,
Your wife has good ears, you can really appreciate what it does for the music as it has minimal editorializing compared to other line stages.
Regards,

Mikha65,
Thanks for the kind comment.You made an excellent choice as you have realized. It's good to see that you and others have discovered this truly surperb product. Your description nails it.The CSL is so natural and capable of connecting and immersing one into their music.What more could you ask of an audio component? If I ever make it to Sweden I'll be expecting some great beer.
Regards,