It still has that damn hard-wired umbilical cord from the power supply to the preamp which makes things *interesting* when you take it out of the box and try to position the preamp on your stand. I also wonder why the volume control plate sticks out what appears to be 1/16" of an inch from the face plate. Why not flush? Last but not least, looking at the last picture of the power supply, it appears that umbilical cord is either under stress or the hole wasn't drilled correctly because it looks like the cord is under stress and is being pulled to the left.
The best pre I've owned was a CAT SL-1.
I'd have one now if it was an all balanced design.
Bruce, why the desire for all balanced? I know that a lot of gear these days needs to have balanced connections ( like the newer ARC stuff), BUT I have heard very little difference in much gear that uses balanced connections vs. unbalanced. Plus,I know that Ken isn't really in favor of balanced for sonic reasons.
BTW, If you never heard the CAT with rolled in tubes, you are in for a MAJOR treat.
Bruce, why the desire for all balanced? I know that a lot of gear these days needs to have balanced connections ( like the newer ARC stuff), BUT I have heard very little difference in much gear that uses balanced connections vs. unbalanced. Plus,I know that Ken isn't really in favor of balanced for sonic reasons.
BTW, If you never heard the CAT with rolled in tubes, you are in for a MAJOR treat.
Or a major disaster. Have you ever asked Ken Stevens how he feels about audiophiles "rolling in tubes" into his preamp? I doubt anyone knows Ken's circuit as well as he does and what he is looking for from each tube in each socket in his design.
The SMC VRE is the new CAT.
When I did tube rolling in my CAT, I got the tubes from Kevin Deal. He seemed knowledgeable of the unit and knew what would work and not work in there.
It appeared to me to sound slightly better because of a lower noise floor. That's what I remember. Nothing else changed as far as I know.
I have fond memories of my CAT and I'm sorry I ever got rid of it. I replaced it with a ML32 because at the time I had ML 333 amp.
When I did tube rolling in my CAT, I got the tubes from Kevin Deal. He seemed knowledgeable of the unit and knew what would work and not work in there.
It appeared to me to sound slightly better because of a lower noise floor. That's what I remember. Nothing else changed as far as I know.
I have fond memories of my CAT and I'm sorry I ever got rid of it. I replaced it with a ML32 because at the time I had ML 333 amp.
The SMC VRE is the new CAT.
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