[jackman]

From the sound of it, this is a world-class preamp.  I like the look of it but especially like the name "The Dude".  Those guys from TRL have a good sense of humor.  Putting the name on the massive aluminum front panel is also genius. 

[jtwrace]

From the sound of it, this is a world-class preamp.  I like the look of it but especially like the name "The Dude".  Those guys from TRL have a good sense of humor.  Putting the name on the massive aluminum front panel is also genius.

The name is from the movie "The Big Lebowski" .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Lebowski

[jackman]

The name is from the movie "The Big Lebowski" .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Lebowski

Yep, one of my favorite movies.  A young, fresh, Tara Reed before she hit the wall, Bunny! 

[Lyndon]

A young, fresh, Tara Reed before she hit the wall, Bunny!

Yes, Jackman. A favorite movie of mine as well.
Bunny's business offer to the Dude was the best, and the Dude ponders where there might be a cash machine...
But it would cost Philip Seymour Hoffman a hundred dollars!
Great soundtrack with one of the rare songs of Captain Beefheart on a movie soundtrack. And Bunny listening to "Viva, las Vegas" in the convertible. A great version!
People either hate or love Coen Brothers' movies.
Now back to the Dude Preamp.
"Nobody "messes" with Jesus! Great Spanish version of "Hotel California"

[SteveFord]

Would this preamp show up well when compared to an ARC LS27 or that beautiful Manley 300B?
Those are the two that are on my Christmas Wish List which is why I ask.

[jtwrace]

Would this preamp show up well when compared to an ARC LS27 or that beautiful Manley 300B?
Those are the two that are on my Christmas Wish List which is why I ask.

IMO yes.  I'd put it up against just about anything.....I looked at ARC before settling on this. 

[Big Red Machine]

Would this preamp show up well when compared to an ARC LS27 or that beautiful Manley 300B?
Those are the two that are on my Christmas Wish List which is why I ask.

One owner also had these preamps before the Dude:

Audio Horizons TP2.1 fully loaded
Joule LA100 MKIII
Conrad Johnson LS16 V2
Thor 1000 MK2
Tom Evans Vibe
Supratek Cortese
Supratek Syrah
Audio Note m5
Wavac PR-X1
Rowland Concerto
Cary SLP98
Aesthetix Calypso
Tube Distinctions SoulMate
Placette passive
Wright Sound WLA 12A
Aloia 11.01
Belles 21A
Rogue 99

And another owned these:

Shindo Vosne-Romanee
ARC Ref-5
Jadis JP-200
McIntosh C-500T
ARC Ref-3
VTL 7.5
cj ACT-2
cj ART mk-2

The Ref series from ARC have been defeated many times by the Dude - other owners have compared it to ARC as well.  Do some searching on Audiogon Forums and you will find this quickly.

[poseidonsvoice]

One owner also had these preamps before the Dude:

Audio Horizons TP2.1 fully loaded
Joule LA100 MKIII
Conrad Johnson LS16 V2
Thor 1000 MK2
Tom Evans Vibe
Supratek Cortese
Supratek Syrah
Audio Note m5
Wavac PR-X1
Rowland Concerto
Cary SLP98
Aesthetix Calypso
Tube Distinctions SoulMate
Placette passive
Wright Sound WLA 12A
Aloia 11.01
Belles 21A
Rogue 99

And another owned these:

Shindo Vosne-Romanee
ARC Ref-5
Jadis JP-200
McIntosh C-500T
ARC Ref-3
VTL 7.5
cj ACT-2
cj ART mk-2

The Ref series from ARC have been defeated many times by the Dude - other owners have compared it to ARC as well.  Do some searching on Audiogon Forums and you will find this quickly.

That's a formidable list. One of these days I'm going to build the Full Vacuum State RTP3D w/remote and take it over to Jt's. It beat out the Boulder 2008, Vitus SL-010, and the Lyra Connoisseur 4.2SE according to Pat Kennedy, all of them being +$15K-$50K preamps. The Dude has everyone's interest peaked however, it is the new fellow in town and a serious value at $4K. Just building the Vacuum State RTP3D with Vcap Copper Teflon caps, along with Bybee MR's & Paul Hynes Shunt regulation, probably will cost me about $4K-$5K.

Anand.

[jtwrace]

The Dude has everyone's interest peaked however, it is the new fellow in town and a serious value at $4K.
Anand.

It's been around for some time now.

[DeadFan]

Hi All.

Very excited to read of Pete and Jason's unbridled enthusiasm with the TRL products.

Back in Sept or Oct 2010 I asked for Amp and Pre-amp recommendations in a thread I started on Aether Audio circle. Pete was good enough to PM me with his thoughts, and among his suggestions was for me to do some research on TRL.

I ended up going "nuts" and ordered "The Dude" and a pair of "Samson" mono-blocks. In addition I bought a couple of Marantz SA8001 players and sent them to Paul for "modding". This was around Nov Dec 2010. Paul has just informed me "their on their way". Mine have taken a lot longer to finalize than is normal, due to the 240v configuration needed for Australia. Also I told Paul to take his time as my Aether Audio Revelation speakers were not likely to be ready for some time.

As it happens Bob Smith of Aether Audio tells me the Rev's aren't far off.  "Allrighty Then".

It takes a "leap of faith" to spent so much money (for me) on gear I have never seen nor heard, so it is very gratifying to hear these positive reports from people I respect.

Regards
Graham

PS Jason please tell us/me more

[jtwrace]

Hi All.

Very excited to read of Pete and Jason's unbridled enthusiasm with the TRL products.

Back in Sept or Oct 2010 I asked for Amp and Pre-amp recommendations in a thread I started on Aether Audio circle. Pete was good enough to PM me with his thoughts, and among his suggestions was for me to do some research on TRL.

I ended up going "nuts" and ordered "The Dude" and a pair of "Samson" mono-blocks. In addition I bought a couple of Marantz SA8001 players and sent them to Paul for "modding". This was around Nov Dec 2010. Paul has just informed me "their on their way". Mine have taken a lot longer to finalize than is normal, due to the 240v configuration needed for Australia. Also I told Paul to take his time as my Aether Audio Revelation speakers were not likely to be ready for some time.

As it happens Bob Smith of Aether Audio tells me the Rev's aren't far off.  "Allrighty Then".

It takes a "leap of faith" to spent so much money (for me) on gear I have never seen nor heard, so it is very gratifying to hear these positive reports from people I respect.

Regards
Graham

PS Jason please tell us/me more

Graham

Glad to hear that you've almost made it!  Well, I will say that I really don't think you'll be disappointed at all.  I can only speak of the Dude of course but his amps are now in my mind after experiencing the Dude for a little bit.   

Please let us know when you get everything playing. 

[wilsynet]

It has taken over a year to get the Dude?  That's a bit insane.

[JP78]

It has taken over a year to get the Dude?  That's a bit insane.

+1. The long wait itself isn't something that bothers me, I suppose it's just more the worry that the manufacturer will go under / disappear which scares me more. Of course, with posts like these it's a whole lot more comforting to know the wait is due to demand, and not a lack of business!

[jtwrace]

+1. The long wait itself isn't something that bothers me, I suppose it's just more the worry that the manufacturer will go under / disappear which scares me more. Of course, with posts like these it's a whole lot more comforting to know the wait is due to demand, and not a lack of business!

My custom Dude took 3 months.  Never an issue as Paul was always answered emailed questions and phone calls and continues to do so.  I do limit my requests as I know it's tough on person.

[wilsynet]

I ordered a standard Dude about 3 months ago and the unit has now been completed and they've got it burning in and in the listening room.  The initial estimate was 6 weeks, but the most recent orders that I know about have been about twice that long.

Personally, I think the case work is a bit overkill.  He went from questionable case work to extreme case work, and maybe something in the middle would reduce the wait as he'd be able to stock the cases better.  A more limited selection on color would also likely enable this.  Other people may feel differently but I've always prized sound over chassis, and while the chassis is a good thing too, the threshold for good enough on the chassis has always been a lower bar (for me).

It takes awhile, and Paul isn't particularly good about predicting the wait time, but he's certainly responsive.  He's happy to take your email checking status, apologizes for taking longer than he was expecting, and is very responsive to your emails and seems to be a good guy all around.

In a lot of ways, you have to think about it as a bespoke piece even if he doesn't offer a lot in the way of options.  That means lower ship volume and slower turnaround, but that's OK with me if the sonics are there.  Those are sort of the expectations you have to have going in.

[jtwrace]

I ordered a standard Dude about 3 months ago and the unit has finally been completed and they've got it burning in and in the listening room.  The initial estimate was 6 weeks, but the most recent orders that I know about have been about twice that long.

Personally, I think the case work is a bit overkill.  He went from questionable case work to extreme case work, and maybe something in the middle would reduce the wait as he'd be able to stock the cases better.  A more limited selection on color would also likely enable this.

It takes awhile, and Paul isn't particularly good about predicting the wait time, but he's certainly responsive.  He's happy to take your email checking status, apologizes for taking longer than he was expecting, and is very responsive to your emails and seems to be a good guy all around.

In a lot of ways, you have to think about it as a bespoke piece even if he doesn't offer a lot in the way of options.  That means lower ship volume and slower turnaround, but that's OK with me if the sonics are there.  Those are sort of the expectations you have to have going in.

Yep.  He could charge waaay more and I think you'll agree once you hear it.  I think he just loves what he does and what he offers.  And that's what it's all about to many. 

I look forward to you getting yours hooked up and hearing it. I might have to ping you the next time I go to see my brother in Pacifica. 

[saisunil]

In business / marketing there is a triple constrain - Quality, Price, Time ... you can only pick two ...

In TRL's case the [sound and build] Quality is off the charts (look wise you can get better looking elsewhere) and Price is as low as he can possibly charge without going out of business ... you lose on time for sure ...

I have argued over this - if only he would raise his prices a little more so that there is better cash flow for him to build multiple units instead of build to order ... but if that was the case I probably would not have been able to afford most of his mods or electronics ...

I, fortuitously, got hooked up with him through one of his CD player mod - that lead to another then a Power Cord and then another and so on and so forth ...

It sure is a test of patience and it is very hard some times to wait that long ... but Paul is such a good guy ... and not many people in the industry applies in audio what he has learnt and applied in his products ...
Paul has worked on increasing performance of Intel Chips, Formula Cars, better efficiency of power houses (AC coming to our homes), modifying MRI machines for better imaging ... modifying digital and analog, recording and mastering live music, designing and modifying everything in the audio chain from source to amplification, speakers and all wires in between ...
Paul says that he is mostly focused on improving power supplies and usually they are over-built ... even the hook up wire he uses is his own design ... some custom spec solid core wire ...
He uses select parts only where they matter - not just wholesale use of expensive parts - that keeps his cost lower that uber-expensive gear and yet competes with it and often, as people have experienced, beats it ...
And if you do not like it - he is likely to refund your money ... please don't take my word for it - talk to him first if you are unsure ...
Cheers   

[Big Red Machine]

For instance, Paul helped design the Magico speakers and uses Magico Minis in the shop system and Magico Threes at his house.  He's very well connected and knows more than any of us can imagine about audio (and non-audio!).

[Vapor Audio]

Well, all this chatter has me interested.  I've been only one source for years, my computer, so haven't needed a pre.  But now with a turntable I need to integrate, I've been shopping for for contenders ... although I was looking for something more in the $2-$3000 range. 

For instance, Paul helped design the Magico speakers and uses Magico Minis in the shop system and Magico Threes at his house.

Well, lets hope he's better at electronics design 

[jtwrace]

Well, all this chatter has me interested.  I've been only one source for years, my computer, so haven't needed a pre.  But now with a turntable I need to integrate, I've been shopping for for contenders ... although I was looking for something more in the $2-$3000 range. 

Well, lets hope he's better at electronics design 

Do you have a phono stage?  TRL doesn't have one.  There is a Dude on audiogon that is close to your price range if you don't need a pre/phono one unit.