New preamp experience

Hello Charles1dad,
I still have the VAC REN 30/30 and it is an excellent amp but once I heard the Franks/Statement linestage combo there was no going back. Totally stunning performance and I'm only at 43 hours. I also purchased the Ocellia I/C and S/C that I'm putting in place today. How long should it take to break these in?
Thank you for your valuable guidence through the years. I hear what your saying!!!
Mark

I am also very pleased with my recent purchase of a Coincident Statement Line Stage. It is proving to be pretty much everything I hoped it would be. It is an interesting experience when one adds a new component that is a special piece in absolute terms, but when it also mates well with the rest on the system, it is in fact one of those OMG what have I been missing experiences.
In addition to the CSL, I recently had a chance to borrow some VH Audio AirSines. It was another OMG moment, so here we go again. Another 2.5K invested in power cords. But the system is playing at a level I did not think possible.

Hi Marcus,
Thanks for the kind comments.The Ocellia is one of those small and
relatively unknown companies that produce very special excellent
products.I think you'll be more than impressed with the addition of these to
your already very fine system. The cables are open, transparent and most
of all natural and will be ideal with the caliber and character of your system.
Marcus, you have two superb amplifiers and can't go wrong with either.This
is a system that can keep you satisfied for a lifetime if you so choose.

Brownsfan, I know precisely what you mean.From viewing your system and
reading your posts in the past I really believed that the CSL would be a true
asset to your beautiful and well thought out system.Given your musical
taste I can't imagine a better fit than the CSL to exploit the wonders of your
classical music collection.It must sound heavenly.

Oh I almost forgot, Marcus, the Ocellia silver cables sound good straight
from the box and just continue to improve steady over roughly 100
hours.Let me know your lmpressions once you've become familiar with
them.
Regards,

Marcus and Brownsfan, you along with recent CSL owners Thankful and Obrennon have with your satisfaction driven home a belief of mine. In general I'll select simple over the more complex when it comes to matters of audio, I.e. keep the signal path as simple as is reasonable. So a direct source to amplifier or use of a passive preamp should be my preference. It isn't, the exception of my keep it simple stance is with active line stages. For me a top quality preamp is essential for obtaining better sound and increasing realism in a system.This has been debated endlessly but all of the recent enthusiasm that new CSL owners are experiencing is what I have felt.The key is high quality active or otherwise the passive approach would be the better path.
Regards,

Charles1dad, Exactly!

I have not had the opportunity to rotate other high quality active preamps into my system in order to evaluate their ability to deliver on the attributes I value most. Now that the CSL is in place, I have no motivation to run that particular experiment. I strongly suspect the CSL is the only active at anywhere near the price that would have supplanted the Promitheus Signature TVC.
About 18 months ago i carefully auditioned Magnepan 3.7s prior to purchase. The audition benefited from a 60K Esoteric/BAT front end. It is my belief that the ModWright/Coincident pair would handily win a careful A/B with that Esoteric/BAT pairing. I did some extensive auditioning of speakers prior to purchase of the Maggies, and so had opportunity to hear many front end pairings in the process. Most of the front ends I heard I could not live with.

Mr Blume has done something very special here.