Greetings from the sound of cj!
As promised, a brief report on the GatS2. I say "brief" because it's simply brief! wow! One hec of a sound indeed.
To be fair, I cannot say that it is a big step from the standard Gat nor is it fair to call the Gat "standard." The S2 basically takes the original Gat to another level. Whether this upgrade in cost is justifiable, in my opinion, no. I'm mainly stating this solely from a price perspective, since 5grand for me isn't disposable income, it is necessary income.
Of course, if I could afford it then by all means I would say the upgrade is very justifiable compared to the more expensive offerings out there. With a total overhaul of top notch parts- vishay resistors, Teflon caps all the way home, no shortfalls any wherw, plus labour charges, which are fairly high these days, I guess this is where the margins must be made. cj are quite clever in this upgrade because it is not available to a wide audience, rather a niche market. Therefore, I guess selling a few 100 more at the present upgrade, knowing that cj lovers will definitely lust after, will eventually cover necessary costs incurred.
The S2 is yet to settle in and I am sure it will sound simply superb in a few weeks from to a month from now. Those who can afford it, go for it, you won't be disappointed. I have health it, it's awesome!
Cheers,RJ