Hey, John:
My process for selecting a preamp was curtailed when I was offered a demo Ultra GT at a great price. I had already arranged to visit the Newport Beach Show in order to finalize my selections, but this purchase makes my trip one for fun only. I did not listen first, just taking a chance, and I did get lucky. My system now has a 'presence' that is uncanny. I won't take space on your system page to rave, but suffice it to say "It's all there."
Ren Tilden
Winter Park, FL

rtilden May 13, 2012 13:36

Hi, John:
I wanted to pass on to you my latest success with a new preamp. I just installed a Purity Audio Design Ultra GT preamp to mate with my CODA 15.0 amp, driving my Tyler Woodmere speakers. The quality level of playback is nothing short of phenomenal. Still doing some minor tweaking and critical listening, but I wanted to pass this along in case you or any of your buddies were interested in any information/comments about it.

rtilden May 12, 2012 23:52

Hey, John:
Following up on your interest in preamp options> have you looked into the Purity Audio products? A new company that only makes preamps, but they are getting great reviews. Manufacturer-direct only for now, and rather expensive too, but it may be worth a listen. Let me know if you have any information about them. Thanks

rtilden March 23, 2012 17:34

Hi, John:
I live in Orlando, FL. Based upon my research, the VAC Signature preamp with phono would be a great option. I like everything I have learned about the VAC company, their designs, customer service, etc. I am hoping this next amp/preamp will stick with me for 20 years, so it needs to be really good and the right fit for me. Your statement about needing tubes somewhere in the system rings true to me. I'm thinking that the imaging benefits of tubes would carry through best in something like the VAC, because tubes are in both the phono and preamp. CODA Class A is lovely. I have seen no direct comparisons with CODA and Pass. I find this funny, as the CODA boys grew out of Threshold during the Pass regime, and I expect that we have more than a few folks interested to hear the differences in results of their directions over 30 years. I don't mind flying somewhere to hear a system that will put me in the right direction. Let's see what happens.

rtilden March 04, 2012 23:45

Any thoughts on an upgrade for my electronics? You guys have tried many different components, and I haven't recently. My speakers (4 Ohm Tyler Woodmeres) do well with solid state, and I am pretty well set on a CODA 15.0 amp. But the preamp could go SS or tubes. The one thing I remember about my old tube preamp driving a SS amp is that the tube preamp has given me the best and most palpable imaging in any of my systems, even compared with my previous Spectral amp/preamp. Is there any consensus that a tube preamp will yield better imaging than a SS preamp in, say 90% of the time?

rtilden March 03, 2012 21:09

Beautiful system with some nice digital gear. Can you give me an idea of how much a digital rig would cost in order to equal my analog rig? I'm currently running a SOTA Cosmos TT/Graham Phantom Supreme/ ZYX Universe copper 0.24mv/ Purist Proteus Provectus phono cable and CODA 06P phono stage.

rtilden March 02, 2012 00:58