Great questions and important. I will try and answer as well as I can. Thanks for your kind comments.
I have owned or had all of those preamps in my home system over the past 5-7 years. I was lucky enough to sell many of these preamps for audio friends of mine and thus had them in my system for several weeks at minimum.
Sometimes I would choose to buy one and keep it. I have only had 2 sets of speakers over the years in my main system. I have however changed out wire and electronics over the years so my comparisons should be understood in that light.
I was able to compare the best sounding preamps (in my opinion) on a pretty consistent package of gear. The Audio Horizons beat out the Thor , CJ, Suptratek's and Tube Distinctions which were the best of the list for me. I did compare these with pretty much the same gear. The Audio Horizons won out.
I then compared the AH preamp & Canary CA339 mono tube amps to a TRL ST225 integrated amp. The TRL surpassed that wonderful combo and started my interest in TRL as you might imagine.
I tried the AH pre with the integrated TRL amp and liked the TRL Int amp all by itself better. I sold the AH pre at this point. I then decided to try the TRL Dude preamp with the integraded and was instantly amazed. The Dude improved my system to such a degree it was shocking to me.
It was not a matter of matching or synergy alone mind you as the TRL integrated amp was made to run best with a high quality passive preamp section.
With the Dude everything I mentioned in my review came out of my speakers. So for me the Dude was the MAN!
As good as the Audio Horizons preamp is the Dude simply made it sound like good hifi. Please keep in mind the AH preamp was clearly better then those other top preamp contenders on my list as just explained. (At least in my home and in my system)
The Thor was very lively and had great pace and drive. The Dude bettered the Thor in even these strong suit areas of the Thor. The Dude has greatly improved bass, more natural tonality and really overshadows the Thor in resolution of detail and intimacy. The Dude throws a larger stage with more depth and plays much louder without the tendency of of sounding "loud".
The Thor is a nice/great buy today used at prices of under $2000. Very good deal indeed. If one has the money $3500 buys you so much more with the Dude. Not a small difference mind you, but rather one of significant magnitude.
When I purchased the TRL Samson amps I knew I was at the end of the road with amplifiers. Yes, I think they work great together. The Samson amps offer ultra high transparency and the Dude matches it. But the important point here is this; it match it with beauty and graceful tonality. I don't like transparency if it comes at the expense of texture, body and grace. The Dude is the perfect mate.
The Dude is the ideal center piece of any true high end system as it expresses music as it is with life, energy and fidelity to the instrument recorded.
Hope this helps you.
I have owned or had all of those preamps in my home system over the past 5-7 years. I was lucky enough to sell many of these preamps for audio friends of mine and thus had them in my system for several weeks at minimum.
Sometimes I would choose to buy one and keep it. I have only had 2 sets of speakers over the years in my main system. I have however changed out wire and electronics over the years so my comparisons should be understood in that light.
I was able to compare the best sounding preamps (in my opinion) on a pretty consistent package of gear. The Audio Horizons beat out the Thor , CJ, Suptratek's and Tube Distinctions which were the best of the list for me. I did compare these with pretty much the same gear. The Audio Horizons won out.
I then compared the AH preamp & Canary CA339 mono tube amps to a TRL ST225 integrated amp. The TRL surpassed that wonderful combo and started my interest in TRL as you might imagine.
I tried the AH pre with the integrated TRL amp and liked the TRL Int amp all by itself better. I sold the AH pre at this point. I then decided to try the TRL Dude preamp with the integraded and was instantly amazed. The Dude improved my system to such a degree it was shocking to me.
It was not a matter of matching or synergy alone mind you as the TRL integrated amp was made to run best with a high quality passive preamp section.
With the Dude everything I mentioned in my review came out of my speakers. So for me the Dude was the MAN!
As good as the Audio Horizons preamp is the Dude simply made it sound like good hifi. Please keep in mind the AH preamp was clearly better then those other top preamp contenders on my list as just explained. (At least in my home and in my system)
The Thor was very lively and had great pace and drive. The Dude bettered the Thor in even these strong suit areas of the Thor. The Dude has greatly improved bass, more natural tonality and really overshadows the Thor in resolution of detail and intimacy. The Dude throws a larger stage with more depth and plays much louder without the tendency of of sounding "loud".
The Thor is a nice/great buy today used at prices of under $2000. Very good deal indeed. If one has the money $3500 buys you so much more with the Dude. Not a small difference mind you, but rather one of significant magnitude.
When I purchased the TRL Samson amps I knew I was at the end of the road with amplifiers. Yes, I think they work great together. The Samson amps offer ultra high transparency and the Dude matches it. But the important point here is this; it match it with beauty and graceful tonality. I don't like transparency if it comes at the expense of texture, body and grace. The Dude is the perfect mate.
The Dude is the ideal center piece of any true high end system as it expresses music as it is with life, energy and fidelity to the instrument recorded.
Hope this helps you.