Wyetech Jade and TRL Dude

That's kool. I used to own the AI L1. Very nice little linestage. I liquidated my previous system and thus the L1 went away. The "just thereness" is a good thing to shoot for IMO as well. The Dude does that (I think) and more in other ways that are hard to describe.

At the end of the day, its about system synergy. If you need tubes in the preamp, so be it. If not, so be it. I know TRL had at one time made a battery powered SS pre-amp which I have not heard.

The hard part about this game is that you need to be able to A+B things in your own rig. I know in Minneapolis there used to be a hi end store that would let you take things home! How ideal and how far we have come from that era of real community. The internet age has its drawbacks....

Gary, keep us posted on your journey.

Agear

Where can a Dude be auditioned in Charlotte? That's where I am and I've been looking at them...

I have been lucky that a local dealer i have bought things from has let me demo most things in my home, from cables to preamps and amps. a couple of weeks ago i home-demoed a pre-amp he built from all vintage parts old using western electric 311 tubes. unreal, but also real expensive. but it is a pleasure to have a place where you can hear that kind of stuff and someone you can rely on

Gary, I missed your post above. Congrats on purchasing the Dude. I don't think you will be disappointed. It is hard to know if it is better than the Jade in an absolute sense. If the Dude does not float your boat, you can always snag a Jade in the future. I will have to check out the Sylvanias. I tried the Raytheons initially and they did not do it for me. It is conceivable I did not have the optimal Raytheon as they come in different flavors. There is an "organ grade" tube that is supposedly optimal. All that being said, it is better to buy from a reputable tube dealer. I tried buying a few Raytheons on Ebay and regretted it. I know the Weitzels would be interested your tube rolling experiences. You should mention this to them.

I own a Dude Preamp -- though I can't make comments on the Jade, I do know that the Dude is the real deal. I had high expectations after speaking with Andrew and Pat about The Dude and there was not a single moment where I wasn't enthralled with the performance.

I spent the evening at Andrews place last weekend demoing his Intuitive Design Summits and Dude preamp... the Dude is a performer everywhere no question about it. I'll be posting my review in the coming weeks.