All of the CAT preamps are undergoing a fairly major upgrade. Ken announced at Axpona...and will officially announce at Munich, that the new preamps will have all Black Path caps in all locations...not just in the signal path. These 'new' versions will be called the CAT SL1 Renaissance BPA and the Legend SL1 BPX. A fairly major price increase is anticipated as well. Good time to 'dump' your existing Legend Black Path, LOL.
What type of capacitor are the Black Path's?
Not in my experience so far , I stopped buying tubes over the internet and other dodgy shops , selling NOS or may be not so NOS tubes .
I bring mine every 4 years to a certified technician who has all the tube testing equipment , pay him a couple hundred euros and haver the whole thing checked incl tubes.
I let him sort out the tube quality
i was Axpona and heard Ken explain some of the changes to both units (only briefly heard the conversation) both have upgraded wiring/caps and a few other things, i thought the Legend has the Black Path Caps also in the power supply and almost twice the caps on the circuit board? Best to call CAT for All changes made to both units...
Tube rolling in a CAT can be a good thing or not? the CAT pre's do demand Strong tested tubes. it will eat up a lot of NOS 6922's tubes, causing them to become noisy/microphonic very quickly! 12AX7'S are safe to roll, but the 6922's are a different story. the biggest Problem is not buying select/matched strong tubes., instead buying tubes from unreliable sources and proper testing??? Maybe CAT feels the same way and does not recommend tube rolling?
Forgot to mention i own the SL1 Black Path Renaissance Pre and i'm very happy and what a incredible phono! The New Pre's from CAT are a improvement,from the already great sounding previous CAT Pre's. in my experience the new Pre's have more resolution and transparent also dynamics. i believe if you have a fairly new model, it can be still upgraded to the latest ?
Quote : BTW, there really is very little to lose by rolling tubes into the CAT.
Except banknotes rolling down from your bankroll
Sure , and my speakers are very easy to drive so the dart should be able to show its full potential.
After that may be vitus levinson 33(h) and. Halcro lol.
Actually found a way to get the cat more quit, parked the Transformers behind the door, apart from a slight tube hiss heard nearby the tweeter , probably SOTA amplification
I can only Imagine how this Combo would sound in a sota room but IT would be a rush.
But my room in belgium ain't bad , its Just you gotta keep the volume moderate.
IMG_20180519_101232_8 by andromeda61, on Flickr
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