Hi, all.
I wanted to post back about my thoughts on this meeting yesterday. First and foremost, it was a great pleasure to finally meet and talk with Raul. He is a very genuine person and really loves this hobby we all share. For those who have not had the pleasure, don't pass up an opportunity to meet him. He is most interesting to talk with and has a great sense of humor. Very enjoyable time, but way too short. I'm glad this meeting worked out the way it did as the weekend provides much more time to have a good listen and good conversation.
On to the juicy part. Well, perhaps not so juicy. I'm going to limit my impressions because my experience with the Essential is in Doug and Paul's system. I have heard this system on a few occasions but that is different than hearing it every day.
My first impression was how much authority and control this preamp exhibits. As others have posted, the LF response is most impressive. The depth and width of the sound stage are excellent, as well as the transparency and evenness of presentation. The highs were a bit thin. (Hang in there for a minute!) The first recording I heard, hopefully Doug can fill in which it was, where the upper range of organ and the trumpets lacked body. The notes were there, but it was a little thin. Perhaps this is what Andrew heard(?). It is also possible that more time on the caps will improve this. Over the course of the evening, we discovered a not too subtle at all improvement with a change in power cords. At that point there was nothing left to do but just enjoy great music.
Much like Nick's Alaap preamp, the Essential does get out of the way of the music. I often describe the Alaap as not sounding like tube gear and I would describe the Essential as not sounding like SS gear. (I don't share Raul's disdain for tubes nor Paul's for SS amps.) Sorry, I can't offer direct comparisons to the Alaap and Essential since we did not perform this comparison while I was there. Perhaps Doug can fill in with some comments on that subject since they did an extensive listening session Saturday night. There are some extra bells and whistles that you get with the Essential, such as the logic circuit. It is important to note that this unit offers what is two completely separate phono stages. So, you can get a MM/MC or MC/MC configuration. It is clear to me that either Jose and Raul's Essential or Nick's Alaap are far better at faithfully rendering what is on the recording as most commercially available pre-amps, especially considering the price points.