Why an active preamp with Rock-N-Roll ?

Tweakster, my Eclipse was manufactured in April, 2002. The latest version I believe was manufactured in August, 2002. A Kora rep stated the following:
"The model you have is the version one before the definitive, as it is today. The two main differences are, the present has a newer remote board and gain adjustment but you do have the principal up-grade which is the main board - this works on the signal path, reducing the surface noise even further. So, in terms of sonics, you can say you have the definitive version!"
No, I have not tried the Arc or Bat stuff. The results would be system dependent anyway. Good luck in your hunt!

I would beg to differ just a bit with respect to whomever was the Kora rep and what they told you, as it is different than what the person I talked to at Kora in France (Jeff Starr)has stated to me. The August 2002 part is correct in that this is when the Eclipse was upgraded to include Auricaps, Jena Labs silver cryoed wiring, and improvements to the powewr supply. This resulted in a BIG, and I mean big, difference in sonics. I can state such because I had TWO previous versions of the Eclipse before the Sept 2002 one that I recently sold (and would buy again). It is my understand that the MOST current Eclipses utilize very fine silver wiring within, not unlike the 47Lab OTC stuff, or so I am told. The sonic differences are, again, said to be audible, but not as dramatic as the improvements realized after the August 2002 upgrade version.

For what it is worth.

4yanx, considering that Jeff Starr is the Kora rep to which
I was referring, this is a curious development. That paragraph in my post is a direct lift from a two week old email. I would expect that Jeff will be able to explain the apparent discrepancy. Saga to be continued . . .

Odd, indeed. Not what I was told personally NOR what my dealer was told by Kora. Does yours have the Auricaps and such? If not, it would also seem odd that Kora would make such major changes to yield no improvement in sonics.

Regardless of what was or wasn't said, I personally had three different versions of the Eclipse in my system, the last having been manufactured in September 2002. That version was SIGNIFICANTLY better than the previous two. And I am not tlaking by a small margin. Clearly, things could be different in different systems, but....

I sold my Eclipse to another A'gon member who is thrilled with it in his system, too.

4yanx, well my compliments to Jeff at Kora. He has responded
immediately with info that will help clarify this Eclipse mystery. This is typical of the great customer service that Kora provides.

"This model (April,2002) does have the Auricaps and silver wiring. As I mentioned, it doesn't have the new remote pcb but does have the current, up-graded main board, which is the most important feature, sonically. From August 2002, the new feature was the re-designed remote pcb, but this doesn't affect the signal path . . . the B (series in the serial #), being precedent to the C series, denotes the fact that it doesn't have the new main board up-grade! (the C series does reflect the upgrade board and Auricaps)"

So, it appears that are incremental upgrades to the Eclipse depending on the manufacturing date. You mentioned that there was a significant improvement between the latest model and next to latest model. Out of curiosity, how would you describe the difference.