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<!-- #thumb --> <p>As a vegetarian for most of my adult life I don’t eat meat, fish or crow. *Because I promised all of you I would eat crow if I was wrong about putting a preamp in the system, let me back off and simply use another metaphor I can live with: swallowing my pride. *That’s friendly to my values and slides down a bit easier than roasted crow.</p>
<p>Consider it swallowed.</p>
<p>Before I offer you the inevitable caveats to being wrong let me reveal to you just what it is I am listening to. *I think this product deserves a great deal of credit and recognition.</p>
<p>The preamp I now have in the main system in Music Room One is a tube based product: the <a href="http://www.aesthetix.net/saturn.php?product=calypso" target="_blank">Aesthetix Calypso</a>. *<a href="http://www.aesthetix.net/index.php">Aesthetix</a> is a California based company with products designed by Jim White, clearly an artisan. *I don’t know Jim, have never spoken with him and we’ve communicated only via email. *I think he deserves a round of applause. *The company is much like we strive to be: artisans building authentic products that serve the music: the real deal.</p>
<p>There is much work to be done on our part. *I suspect the Calypso is but one of a few preamplifiers that would make me reconsider my stance on being between the DAC and the amp. *I also suspect this is not restricted to just tubes. *But I don’t know. *And I don’t know why. *What I do know is it’s amazing what it has done for the system.</p>
<p>One of my all time favorite discs is one that HP recommended how many years ago? *Harry Belafonte live at Carnegie hall. *Harry waxed effusively about hearing the hall, the size of it – of being there with the audience. *The last track being the best to demonstrate this. *I have listened to this disc many times on both the older Magneplanar based system and now the Infinity IRS set. *It’s always been great with lots of depth. *But I have never felt I heard what HP described so long ago. *With the Calypso between the PWD and the PWA I am there. *I am actually in the hall. *The size of the hall and the palpability of the elements within that hall are now real. *Rounded. *Three dimensional. *Right. *Human. *Authentic.</p>
<p>It makes no sense whatsoever. *But I intend to get to the bottom of this.</p>
<p>Does this mean all preamps are better than no preamp in a system of this resolving power? *No. *Not even close. *Most I have tried, including our own, remove the magic of the DAC feeding the amp alone. *What I can say is that this preamp, in this system, brings a magic to the music I have been searching for. *Can it be duplicated by other means? *How else might we get there? *I haven’t any clue.</p>
<p>For now I am just listening, learning and enjoying. *And doing a lot of swallowing.</p>
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[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/lunch-served/11400/]
<p>Consider it swallowed.</p>
<p>Before I offer you the inevitable caveats to being wrong let me reveal to you just what it is I am listening to. *I think this product deserves a great deal of credit and recognition.</p>
<p>The preamp I now have in the main system in Music Room One is a tube based product: the <a href="http://www.aesthetix.net/saturn.php?product=calypso" target="_blank">Aesthetix Calypso</a>. *<a href="http://www.aesthetix.net/index.php">Aesthetix</a> is a California based company with products designed by Jim White, clearly an artisan. *I don’t know Jim, have never spoken with him and we’ve communicated only via email. *I think he deserves a round of applause. *The company is much like we strive to be: artisans building authentic products that serve the music: the real deal.</p>
<p>There is much work to be done on our part. *I suspect the Calypso is but one of a few preamplifiers that would make me reconsider my stance on being between the DAC and the amp. *I also suspect this is not restricted to just tubes. *But I don’t know. *And I don’t know why. *What I do know is it’s amazing what it has done for the system.</p>
<p>One of my all time favorite discs is one that HP recommended how many years ago? *Harry Belafonte live at Carnegie hall. *Harry waxed effusively about hearing the hall, the size of it – of being there with the audience. *The last track being the best to demonstrate this. *I have listened to this disc many times on both the older Magneplanar based system and now the Infinity IRS set. *It’s always been great with lots of depth. *But I have never felt I heard what HP described so long ago. *With the Calypso between the PWD and the PWA I am there. *I am actually in the hall. *The size of the hall and the palpability of the elements within that hall are now real. *Rounded. *Three dimensional. *Right. *Human. *Authentic.</p>
<p>It makes no sense whatsoever. *But I intend to get to the bottom of this.</p>
<p>Does this mean all preamps are better than no preamp in a system of this resolving power? *No. *Not even close. *Most I have tried, including our own, remove the magic of the DAC feeding the amp alone. *What I can say is that this preamp, in this system, brings a magic to the music I have been searching for. *Can it be duplicated by other means? *How else might we get there? *I haven’t any clue.</p>
<p>For now I am just listening, learning and enjoying. *And doing a lot of swallowing.</p>
<center><a href="http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/lunch-served/11400/emailpopup/" onclick="email_popup(this.href); return false;" title="Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers" rel="nofollow"><img class="WP-EmailIcon" src="http://www.pstracks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-email/images/email.gif" alt="email Lunch is served" title="Lunch is served" /></a>*<a href="http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/lunch-served/11400/emailpopup/" onclick="email_popup(this.href); return false;" title="Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers" rel="nofollow">Forward to a friend and help us engage more readers</a></center><br /><!-- // MAILCHIMP SUBSCRIBE CODE --><center><a href="http://eepurl.com/eSzBY">Get new and fresh stories like this each morning by joining the folks reading Paul's Posts. Click here </a></center>
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[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/lunch-served/11400/]