Modwright SWL 9.0SE Pre ... your thoughts welcome

Follow-up: Wsifu, I too, am using cryo'd Tung Sols that Dan provided me with the purchase of his RMAF show preamp. A very fine tube for a very fine preamp indeed!

Bcos17:

I am using a Shunyata Research Anaconda Alpha power cord with excellent results. They are not cheap even used for around $1150, but the results are worth the price IMO.

I am from Wisconsin--the Cheese Capitol of the World or we used to be (maybe CA has passed us up). Anyway, yes we do love our cheese in this state as well as our brandy!

Clio09:

Beer and brats are summertime fare. You are right about beer and brats--we got 'em!

Are you from WI or the Midwest?

This is an excellent thread with savy people whom I believe to be music lovers first and (audiophiles second or not at all). However, you absolutely must appreciate what Dan has created aesthetically, technically and musically.

I don't think I need to chime in here regarding what TVAD has said and recommended as it is right on the mark in my view as well!

RE: My unit (pun intended). The only thing I don't have on the unit is the Bybee cigars which may come at a later date. However, it would be very hard to part with my 9.0SE even for the few short weeks it would take to perform the upgrade.

Enjoy the music friends and Dan W., please keep your audio and music values and continue to transform them into the musical products that you have already started.

Do the preamp first. It will be money well spent over a new amplifier any day.

3 BDR Mark IV cones under my SWL.

Dennis:

"just curious why you guys chose the points..."

To my ears the cones simply sounded the best of all the reasonably priced isolation devices I tried.

I, too, met Dan Wright personally at the 2005 RMAF in Denver. What a personable, enthusiastic, talented, yet humble person. I spent most of my time during this event in Dan's room listening to music because it sounded BETTER than most vendor's systems at the show (many costing a zillion (well, you get the picture) times more than Dan's show rig).

After many years with an ARC LS-3 ss line-stage preamp in my system (in my opinion no slouch of a pre), I went to the RMAF to hear the ModWright and to get away from work for a while. Well, to make a long story short I bought the SWL 9.0 SE that Dan was using in his show system. We discussed the purchase in a fun, casual, yet businesslike manner. He offered me a very fair price which included a pair of "green" cryo'd Tung-Sol 5687 NOS tubes. The unit was in perfect physical and electrical condition at the show and sounded superbly musical on all counts without any glitches.

I have been so damn busy at work with budgets and other crap to have put enough hours on the tubes for break-in, but can, without hesitation, say that this is one incredible audio product that has transformed my audio system into a true music system. Music enjoyment is what this investment is ALL about. I can only imagine what my system will sound like when I have the requisite 50 hours that Dan recommends for the Tung-Sols to reach their full potential.

My final comment: the one thing that just amazes me to no end is how my loudspeakers, which are physically quite large, just disappear without drawing attention to a false sense of left and right. Just the musical performance remains which is the ultimate reward for me!

Thank you Dan for your hard work and true committment to your profession!