I have Sachs pre, and also have had, in the past Dan Wright's SWL9.0 tube linestage, driving a wide variety of solid state, hybrid and all tube power amps.
Based on my experiences, I would say that
1) the Sachs unit can sound quite different based on the tubes used in it... with upper crust tubes in it, the Sachs pre is very similar to Dan's work with his tube linestages - a very extended (not at all rolled off) treble, expansive and holographic soundstaging with a real sense of depth, and a very pleasing 'embodying' effect on vocals and solid, medium fast and deep bass response... not quite up to 'tip top solid state' levels bass control and attack but still very good, and plenty convincing with a good amount of 'air' around bass notes
2) Being a big fan (and frequent owner) of Dan's units over the years, I believe his core sonic philosophy is very similar to that of modern Audio Research... to provide the best attributes of tube gear (warmth, dimensionality, holography) without the typical downsides (muddled rolled off treble, smeared slow sounding bass). As one moves up his range of pre and power amps, he more and more closely achieves that ideal
3) Dan is a good guy, still provides the personal touch in dealing with customers, is reachable via phone and email, so don't hesitate to try to reach out to him to discuss specific models and their sonic traits... he is a straight shooter.
Hope this helps at least a little.
