Preamp Deal of the Century

Stiltskin,
You are right to a certain degree- I made my decision solely based on this thread, when I first bought Chenin.
Then the whole sibilance issue became my reality. I tried to deal with it by all possible means- NOS tubes, room treatments, support system, new speakers- NO LUCK.
Then I (wrongly) decided, that Cortese might be a better preamp with regards to sibilance, and combined with Supratek power amps ( I was blaming poor synergy with my then BAT-75SE), will give me the sound, I was looking for.That's how I've made that decision.
Soon after, I happened to find Doshi up for sale, and decided to try it.
What exactly is in my post from 11-24-07 conveys "a totally different story"? I did say Cortese was more dynamic, and served music ina different fashion, which is absolutely true, and I stand by that statement today. What to the sibilance- not one of the subsequent preamps in my system, Nagra, BAT exhibited a slightest trace of it, being equally as musical, expressive and resolving, as Cortese.
I think I still have some of Mick's e- mails, and I post them later.
Arkio,
You are right, all of them are more expensive retail, but when was the last time, you paid a full retail price at a dealer? There are two Nagra PL-Ps for sale now for $5300 and $5900, as we speak. And don't forget, Mick sold direct, with no dealer network.
If you are happy with your Supratek,and like the way it colors music, that doesn't make it the best out there by any means.
I'm not saying, that there is anything wrong with somebody liking certain colorations. My point is and was, that I could not listen to it in my system.
I have no doubts in my mind, that everybody has different level of sensitivity to this particular type of coloration.
So your comment to the absense of coloration in Supratek cannot possibly change my own extensive experience with it, and actually bears aquestion:'WHAT ELSE IS IN YOUR SYSTEM???"

Maril, if you don't like the Supratek sound, that is fine. But please... don't pull the "if you like that of coloration" card...

Most Supratek owners are very experienced audiophiles who are familliar with good preamps. These are very neutral and transparent preamps. There is not the slightest bit of sibilance distortion in my system, in various rooms, with various amps, speakers, etc.

My Cortese sounded really fun.

However, it wasn't transparent or neutral by any stretch of the definition. It was absolutely colored, and it was a big part of it's attraction.

Agree.

Goatwuss, Arkio,
There is no need for an argument about coloration. Here is my explanation why.
Nature didn't create us all equal, as you know, some of us are white, some black, some are brown, some are tall, some are smart, and there are some, who are less so.
The same goes for our hearing apparatus. Being a physian and an educator, I feel compelled to give a short anatomy and physiology lecture here, which I feel is long overdue.
Our hearing apparatus is strictly analog mechanical device.
Our external ear is simply a horn, designed to amplify sound.
The other part of our internal ear is a membrane, consist. of a different lenghts fibers, designed to response to a different frequencies of the audible spectrum. It looks not unlike xylophone.
With some stretch of imagination, one can assume, that that part of our internal ear differs from one person to another.
To stretch our imagination even further, it's safe to assume, that being different lenghts and thickness, they would resonate at different freuencies, causing different amplitude of the electric signal, generated in the corresponding receptors to go to our auditory cortex, to be percieved as a sound of different loudness.
So, all of us, hearing the exact same signal at specific frequency, will have an electrical signal od different amplitude generated in their receptors, and will hear it at different loudness levels.
All this said, I don't really understand, how come we still having an argument about a sound signature of a certain component(s). The simple truth is- we all hear differently, and that explains why Goatwuss and Arkio do not hear sibilance and Tvad, Mrjstark, myself and many others do.

That should put an end to all arguments of this kind, hopefully.
Most likely it won't though.