[Mr Peabody]

One thing I forgot, I mentioned about the FET gear being recording dependent but didn't elaborate.  On recordings with low end there the FET played it very well, as I stated tight, albums like I mentioned Dead Weather or Joe Bonamassa the bass was full yet controlled, I played a more recent Mariah Carey thinking the bass would be big, the bass was there but not as I usually hear it, more controlled and midbass like.  I suspect when some of this Pop music booms it's the amps losing control.  On Alicia Keys the bass varied from song to song, some had very low tones where some didn't, that is how it should be, honest to the recording.

[trebejo]

It's nice to hear that you're dialing in the FetValve. I had a bit of an experience with "Time" on DSOTM, when the bells ring I had it kinda loud and, well, they were kinda loud but sooooo clean. The hammer on the bells was one of the most realistic loud sound reproduction I've ever heard.

Bass on electronically-produced music is quite the journey. You get it so that it sounds great on one song and it sounds like crap on another, sometimes from the very same album! At this point I try to find something acoustic, judge it by ear, get the spl meter, judge it by the meter (and take note of the nodes throughout the room making the judgement tricky), get the digital EQ and putz with it, go back and forth... sometimes I insist on boosting the bass and lo and behold it starts to boom and lose most of its charm; loud, but, alas, boorish.

[slippers-on]

Ok Peabody...sounds like you're starting to have some fun over there! You've been playing a lot of Rock music. I will be over there Saturday around 3ish with some Dexter Gordon on Vinyl and some other classic Jazz to put that thing through a test....gotta slow it down a bit with some good stuff and stop all that rockin and rolling over there. That way I can see just how good that rig really is....Oh and I dont want to see any yawning from you with the Jazz...you got that?

[Mr Peabody]

Without going back and reading all my posts again, the FET pre I believe has settled in and doing what it should, most if not all of my objections have gone away or improved to satisfaction.  The preamp is more like what the 400r sound and both together are making great music.  The sound stage is on par with other preamps regarding size, although not quite as large as the CJ, who knows which is more correct, it's just a difference.  I really want to move on from conparisons between the two because the presentations are just different.  At first I had regrets about writing so early and saying some of the things I did about the preamp but it was what I honestly experienced at that time, so maybe some one else might not have immediate bliss right out of the box and benefit from my experience.

The FET preamp, as what I experienced with the FET power amp, exhibits great musicality.  The music flows to where you hear the melodies, rhythms and nuances of a song.  The FET gear has a cohesiveness to the sound like I'm not sure if I've heard in any other gear, it's like the instruments play more with each other as a whole.  The bass is very good, being accurate to the recording, if it's not there you won't hear it but if it's in the recording you'll hear it as it should be.  Vocals are very clear and intelligible, not euphonic as with some tube gear, just a difference, depends on what you like.  The FET pre has an open transparent sound that allows subtleties to easily be heard as well as giving the main instruments a liveliness.  The FET has an amazing ability to control the music so well while still being able to do these things I already talked about, musicality.  There are many brute force amps out there that have an iron grip but some how in doing that lose the musicality that makes listening fun.  For instance, some gear play a walking bass line just one note after the other where very few others, the FET being one, gives you that sense of swing, or groove, in the walking bass line, that thing that makes you want to snap your fingers.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I'm glad to hear that you are liking the FET Pre Mr. P..

[slippers-on]

Got a chance to listen to the AVA at Peabodys last week....I must say, a very nice and fine presentation indeed! In my opinion a very different presentation than the much warmer Conrad Johnson gear that was in place before. Yeah...AVA FET, fine indeed!