Older review but still accurate IMO.
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/cat_jl2_signature_mk2.htm
Thanks knghifi for this reference !Older review but still accurate IMO.
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/cat_jl2_signature_mk2.htm
As an additional point on the syrupy sound of most tube amps, my understanding is that recently even Myles Astor, a tube guy his whole life, switched from the syrupy sound of CJ tube amps on his Magico to some Swiss SS, and his system now sounds less syrupy and more resolving... if that guy didi it, sounds like checkmate... CAT is the only one positioned to survive
Respectfully, I think you are assuming and concluding more from Myles' switch than is justified by the mere observation of the switch.
I do not know anyone, literally no one, who considers the current generation of c-j amplifiers to exhibit the same syrupy, euphonic sonic attributes of c-j amplifiers from two and three decades ago.
Furthermore, most people I know do not consider ARC or VTL or VAC or BAT tube amplifiers to sound syrupy. And Ralph' Karsten's OTLs and David Berning's ZOTLs are the opposite of syrupy.
Which current production all-tube amplifiers do you consider to sound syrupy?
As an additional point on the syrupy sound of most tube amps, my understanding is that recently even Myles Astor, a tube guy his whole life, switched from the syrupy sound of CJ tube amps on his Magico to some Swiss SS, and his system now sounds less syrupy and more resolving... if that guy didi it, sounds like checkmate... CAT is the only one positioned to survive
It would be great if you could refer to your preferences without denigrating people or brands.
People's time and money are important. Drek must called drek when it's drek.. sorry your feelings are hurt, but people should have all data points when making decisions.
Exactly - people should have valid data points, not your biased and poisonous pseudo-syllogisms.
You appreciate CAT - it would be great if you could dazzle this forum with information concerning the brand, people would probably appreciate. But instead you choose to focus on denigrating others.
He states the conundrum I have personally about OTL amplifiers: incredible crystalline midrange transparency, but is it the sound we actually want to listen to (versus warmer, but slightly fuzzier, output transformer tube amplifiers)?
Having been at Myles’ place at the time he had the CJ, I don’t recall any syrupy sound at all.As an additional point on the syrupy sound of most tube amps, my understanding is that recently even Myles Astor, a tube guy his whole life, switched from the syrupy sound of CJ tube amps on his Magico to some Swiss SS, and his system now sounds less syrupy and more resolving... if that guy didi it, sounds like checkmate... CAT is the only one positioned to survive
Having been at Myles’ place at the time he had the CJ, I don’t recall any syrupy sound at all.
I am not a fanboy of any brand, meaning I judge everything on its merits.
With that said, CAT would not be my first choice with uber- high efficiency gear, such as horns...I'll take SET with that, thanks you....
but in the USA, where highly inefficient box speakers are the overwhelming popular taste, CAT is the only tube amplifier that can drive them without sounding syrupy...
In fact, tube sound has become defined as syrupy sound in the vast majority of situations... if I'm invited to a guy's house to listen to box speakers driven by tube amps, I politely decline!
With that said, Audio Research can't even drive the Sonus Fiber speakers, designed in the same stable / parent company (recently separated, but when designed, part of the same company and supposed to "work together")... this is easily verified at audio shows .... even arc 750 can't drive their own speakers on rock ... truly pathetic!
Audio research may have been great in the 1970s when SS amps sounded like sh!t, but other than hearing the arc ref 75 with Scaena and with Carl Marchisotto's Nola speakers, both of which sound incredible and are easy to drive, I have never heard ARC amps sound good. Sorry, but they sound more bleached than albino skin...
And recently, Carl Marchisotto, whose livelihood depends on great sound, moved away from ARC to VAC... (VAC sounds syrupy on hard-to-drive box speakers also)...
So stay away from ARC amps unless you have an easy to drive speaker
I am not a fanboy of any brand, meaning I judge everything on its merits.
With that said, CAT would not be my first choice with uber- high efficiency gear, such as horns...I'll take SET with that, thanks you....
but in the USA, where highly inefficient box speakers are the overwhelming popular taste, CAT is the only tube amplifier that can drive them without sounding syrupy...
In fact, tube sound has become defined as syrupy sound in the vast majority of situations... if I'm invited to a guy's house to listen to box speakers driven by tube amps, I politely decline!
With that said, Audio Research can't even drive the Sonus Fiber speakers, designed in the same stable / parent company (recently separated, but when designed, part of the same company and supposed to "work together")... this is easily verified at audio shows .... even arc 750 can't drive their own speakers on rock ... truly pathetic!
Audio research may have been great in the 1970s when SS amps sounded like sh!t, but other than hearing the arc ref 75 with Scaena and with Carl Marchisotto's Nola speakers, both of which sound incredible and are easy to drive, I have never heard ARC amps sound good. Sorry, but they sound more bleached than albino skin...
And recently, Carl Marchisotto, whose livelihood depends on great sound, moved away from ARC to VAC... (VAC sounds syrupy on hard-to-drive box speakers also)...
So stay away from ARC amps unless you have an easy to drive speaker
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