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In Reply to: Great Look! posted by mjm on March 24, 2006 at 10:04:58:
I've had prior experience with the less expensive BAT VK30se, Conrad-Johnson PV14L and PV12, and the Audio Research LS16. The BAT was rich and robust but a little "dark" sounding to me. The CJs were a bit polite and not very tight or impactful in the bass... but very nice midrange. The ARC LS16 didn't have much over some of the SS preamps I've owned. It was very neutral yes, but to my ears, didn't have much tube character. It was also a little bit softer in the bass department than the SS preamps I've tried.I auditioned the Cary SLP-98L and liked what I heard and based on what others have said about the SLP-05, I took a chance and ordered it.
The Cary SLP-05 offers a beautiful tube midrange sound with a bit of warmth but doesn't seem to give up in the areas of big dynamics, bass impact, and great treble extension and clarity w/o being "bright". So far even with the stock EH tubes, I'm liking it more than any other preamp I've owned. It also has a smoothness to it without sacraficing detail and it's transparent throughout.
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