My GK-1R was born in early January. I mentioned this elsewhere, but I felt the event was deserving of a post of its own!
I am so extremely delighted with the quality of this gem. I have been listening to music through it for several weeks now, with complete rapture. The most noticeable attributes to my ears are 1) vocals - which sound so natural, it's scary; 2) imaging - the musicians have moved from being bunched up, shoulder to shoulder to wide spacing between them. This seems like magic, pure and simple. 3) dynamics - it's as if a governor has been removed, allowing the full dynamics, from softest notes to loudest, to be properly reproduced. 4) clarity - plucks of the guitar, keys on the piano, pulls of the violin bow... all are defined.
Oh yes, the remote control features work extremely well. In fact, I have utilized this to allow extensive A/B testing, so that I can be confident that my opinions are not based on placebo effect.
Having been one of the lucky participants of the prototype GK-1 road trip, long before the kit was available, I had an idea what to expect. However, the production model proved to be even more. Although I can't pretend to remember every nuance of the prototype's presentation, I clearly recall one slight deficiency of the prototype: bass response was somewhat lacking. This was unquestionably corrected in the production version: bass is extremely strong - in a very natural way. My GK-1 seems as near perfect as a preamp can be.
Congratulations to Hugh on a magnificent product! I sincerely hope you get the robust sales that you deserve!
