The mighty CAT preamp

I too made the move from the CAT to the Joule preamp which works very well with my Music Reference RM9 SE Amp and Merlin speakers (I also use an Atma-sphere pre with my Atma-sphere amp - they world especially well together). When I had the CAT pre, I had the CAT JL2 amps. Every preamp mentioned in this thread is a wonderful preamp, and don't think anyone can tell you what you will like best, truly personal taste at this level. That being said, the CAT's "ergonomic" issues mentioned by Spectron are real, but no reason to change from a CAT to something else if you are happy with the CAT. If anyone tells you that they can make a definitive choice for you between them based on their experience, I think they would be overstating their case - you could, and should, be happy listening to music with any of these (CAT, Joule, VTL 7.5, ARC REF series).

For the fact that the Audio Research is more alive sounding with much better depth and detail. The VTL had less depth, less detail and less transparency.

Jwm, what amps and speakers were you using with the CAT, VTL, and finally the ARC? I don't know if you were going forward or backwards, but you seem to have found the sound you like. What was the system context?

I was and still am using the ESP Harp's which are very similar to the ESP Concert Grands. At the time I was using VTL 450 monoblocks. Now I am using the VAC 300i Phi Monoblocks. I still like the sound of the AR better than the CAT with these amps.

Well, it seems to me that any of those pieces would sound pretty darn good, you are in good company with any of them IMHO and good to know you found the right combination for your taste. I do think that anyone interested in gear of this caliber must listen to both the ARC Ref and CAT pres (and the Joule LA300 and otheres) to decide, which is "better" might very well be in the ear of the listener, and not everyone will decide the same way; if it were only that easy. Has anyone heard the CAT Legend versus the older CAT and other top contenders?