Anyone seriously audition CAT gear and decide against it? Anyone switch from CAT?

musicfirst1

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I agree with you that it's all about taste. Personally, it makes no difference to me what gear people like, what they like to eat, what colors they prefer, or what positions they prefer during "intimate relations". Watching the Alexia vs. S5 thread get shut down is such a shame, as most members here are very intelligent, yet arguing about their preferences or that their brand is superior without any proof is almost medieval.

Yet the CAT vs. Audio Research is interesting to look at from a marketing perspective. As soon as Audio Research releases a product, they quickly send it off to Valin, whom any other excellent tube manufacturer avoid like the plague, Kessler,the American reviewer writing for British magazines, who always reviews Wilson and Martin Logan products telling us they are the greatest on earth, and a few others influencers who go on to praise it endlessly. However, when CAT releases a new product, it's ignored. Furthermore, there are almost no places to audition CAT.

As a student of human behavior, I wonder how many of those Audio Research devotees would stick with the brand if other excellent tube brands were easy to audition and got a fraction of the hype Audio Research does. If CAT had a reviewer or 2 even with a fraction of Fremer's reputation have it in their system, there would be a dent in ARC's sales.

Yes, there are, now more than ever 'rubber stamp' reviewers out there, which is why small manufacturers like Ken Stevens, Andy Payor and others avoid certain 'review mill streams' like the plague. IMHO, these two gentlemen are among the the best audio designers in the business.

As for having one's product become one of a 'starred reviewers' reference system components, the only way it happens (with increasingly rare exceptions) is a long term manufacturers loan and/or a six figure advertising budget. Notice how the Manufacturers that meet this criteria are all medium to larger companies that can afford the price of admission. (Martin Logan, Wilson, ARC, Magico and a long time ago, Sonic Frontiers, who bought their way into the hearts of many a reviewer through multiple covers and double page spreads)

Now if I were to pick my two favorite amplifiers of all time, they would be the Jadis Defy 7 and the C.A.T. JL1s, and I've owned dozens.
 
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MadFloyd

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Yes, there are, now more than ever 'rubber stamp' reviewers out there, which is why small manufacturers like Ken Stevens, Andy Payor and others avoid certain 'review mill streams' like the plague. IMHO, these two gentlemen are among the the best audio designers in the business.

As for having one's product become one of a 'starred reviewers' reference system components, the only way it happens (with increasingly rare exceptions) is a long term manufacturers loan and/or a six figure advertising budget. Notice how the Manufacturers that meet this criteria are all medium to larger companies that can afford the price of admission. (Martin Logan, Wilson, ARC, Magico and a long time ago, Sonic Frontiers, who bought their way into the hearts of many a reviewer through multiple covers and double page spreads)

Now if I were to pick my two favorite amplifiers of all time, they would be the Jadis Defy 7 and the C.A.T. JL1s, and I've owned dozens.

I can say that my CAT JL7s are the best amps I've ever owned and I'm embarrassed about the amount of gear that has been through my house.
 
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andromedaaudio

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Pre amp is the star imo .
As said some where else it sounds like real music / sounds to my ears.
Iirc he built his reputation with pre s ,poweramps came later, although also topnotch.
If one only runs after reviewers choices ,you keep running /buying, besides the conflict of interest that might appear in magazines.
 
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DaveyF

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Pre amp is the star imo .
As said some where else it sounds like real music / sounds to my ears.
Iirc he built his reputation with pre s ,poweramps came later, although also topnotch.
If one only runs after reviewers choices ,you keep running /buying, besides the conflict of interest that might appear in magazines.

+1
 

siddh

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I had my JL-2 updated to Black Path approximately 1.5 years ago. Drive tubes are all Telefunken, output tubes Kt-120's, and fuse swapped for Synergistic Black; drives Avalon Time speakers. The amp, along with the rest of the system has offered near equal clarity to OTL; frequency extension of quality solid state; and a midrange nearing, but not quite the equal of single-ended. Plus the triode amp has the balls to push the Avalons to very satisfying levels.
 

RevelMann

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Hi there,

Wondering what speaker cable that most CAT use with? Say with Wilson speaker.
Thanks
 

andromedaaudio

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I use silver plated copper strands wire with teflon coating DIY , cable connectors are coated pure copper shrink fit connectors, i " stole " these from an electrician buddy at work .
1 euro a piece i reckon , speakers are Andromeda design XPE speakers .
Speaker connectors are gold plated pure copper Cardas connectors same type as wilson uses afaik .

LS connection.jpg



cat amp connector .jpg
 
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RevelMann

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RevelMann

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I use silver plated copper strands wire with teflon coating DIY , cable connectors are coated pure copper shrink fit connectors, i " stole " these from an electrician buddy at work .
1 euro a piece i reckon , speakers are Andromeda design XPE speakers .
Speaker connectors are gold plated pure copper Cardas connectors same type as wilson uses afaik .

View attachment 75825
Interesting! How does it sound compare with any stock cable you have use?
 

andromedaaudio

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Interesting! How does it sound compare with any stock cable you have use?
I dont know i never tried other cables on my current speakers , i stopped bothering with the cables maze around 2006 -2007 ( i ve tried MIT and Transparent and some other cables on previous speakers .)

I got smarter and i prefer to invest in real significant sound quality changes these days . real value .jpg
 
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andromedaaudio

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es, there are, now more than ever 'rubber stamp' reviewers out there, which is why small manufacturers like Ken Stevens, Andy Payor and others avoid certain 'review mill streams' like the plague. IMHO, these two gentlemen are among the the best audio designers in the business.
I think the same.

I m thinking of replacing my CAT JL 2 sign output tubes after 6 - 7 years , i have had only 1 KT120 break during that time , easily replaced .

I m thinking of replacing them with original? 6550 winged Svetlana s for a change , with that i can put also the tube cages back on . ;)
 
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ashandger

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Ken used to have Wilson speakers but is now using Magico S5 I believe. He used to use Transparent cables with Wilson and I think he is using Stealth with Magico but not sure as it's a while since I was in touch with him. I have personally used Transparent Reference MM with my JL2 and SL1pre and was very happy with the result.
 
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MadFloyd

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I also thought Ken was using Magico S5s.
 

knghifi

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Spoke to Ken ~4 weeks ago and he mentioned Magico S5 and Wilson Alexia. Not sure if present or past tense.
 

knghifi

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I think the same.

I m thinking of replacing my CAT JL 2 sign output tubes after 6 - 7 years , i have had only 1 KT120 break during that time , easily replaced .

I m thinking of replacing them with original? 6550 winged Svetlana s for a change , with that i can put also the tube cages back on . ;)
Recently I said to Ken, your stuff sells itself. Don't need advertisement, reviews and longest time no website. He gets request from reviewers but has his reasons. He told me business is good and reason my JL7 upgrade took ~4 months.

You should contact CAT for tubes. I also got new set of KT120s and driver tubes in the upgrade.
 
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Zappadaddy

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I love CAT SL1 Ultimate pre, unfortunately I had to sell it to try Aries Ceart Incito S and Helene DAC. Waiting for this new gear, I will report if I like it better then CAT in my system.
 
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Florian

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I love CAT gear, had JL2s and and Sl1. Fantastic stuff. There is not always better and these endless comparisons are pointless, especially in a non fairly static environment. I also had a bunch of NAT gear, which all broke and the customer service was not good. The CATs never had an issue.
 

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