[b]SWL 9.0 and SWL 9.0SE FeedBack![/b]

modwright · « **on:** 22 Jan 2005, 10:27 pm »

I will continue to post feedback from customers who have received their ModWright SWL 9.0 and SWL 9.0SE preamps. There are close to a dozen in the hands of dealers and customers now, or on their way to one of the above. I am building them as fast as I can and have a shipping list for Beta customers and customers who pre-ordered. We have sold over thirty of the first fifty units to date, as of 1.22.05. Pricing will go up after the first fifty units are sold.

Current Pricing:
SWL 9.0 = $1400 + shipping ($1500 w/ Remote).
SWL 9.0SE = $1900 + shipping (Incl. Remote).

New Pricing:
SWL 9.0 = $1800 + shipping (Incl. Remote).
SWL 9.0SE = $2200 + shipping (Incl. Remote).

Feedback

D. Ward - 12.28.04

I gotta get me the SE version.
I have 50+ hours on this thing and I keep waiting for a weakness - there is none. This thing is way over the top. I hope you have a plan in place for when word gets out and it gets reviewed.
I am not sure what additional benefit is possible with the SE version (how can it get any better in my room/system?) but at least I will know I have the best that is out there. Please let me know what my upgrade path is.

V. Tran – 1.13.05

Incredible! I didn't think there could be much difference between the beta unit and the production one and I was VERY surprised. Wow, I kept feeding CDs until 3am this morning!

V. Tran - 1.19.05

How am I going to put it into words without cycling through the overused array of adjectives normally seen with audio/equipment reviews? Hmm. Let's see, in addition to the normal run-of-the-mill "deep layered 3-D sound stage", "airy around each instrument", my descriptions are dynamic, natural & musical. Let's get the easy ones out of the way first. Natural & musical: this linestage just gets out of the way and let you hear the music coming through. For example, I heard too much "hi-resolution" (in a hi-fi sense) making the ARC equipment sound sterile, bright. The Cary SLP98 is very smooth, very...seductive with its sweet midrange. In fact, I came into Audible Arts, ready to sign a check for the Cary when I found out about the ModWright. I could have lived with the Cary unit had I not came across the ModWright. With the Cary, you're always aware that it emphasizes on sweeten up the mids and your attention is always drawn to the liquidy smooth midrange. What about large-scale classical symphonies which do not involve vocals? Oops.
Ok, so we got the neutrality of the ModWright out of the way, back to the issue of "dynamic"... I'm gonna exagerate with the examples from photography to try and convey my impression. Think of 2 photographs, one snapshot taken by an amateur where all the information are there but nothing spectacular. The other one of the same subject, taken by a artisan with proper lighting to flush out the colors and details. Colors look more vibrant, deeper blacks, purer whites, etc... Basically the equivalent of extended extremes in audio terms. The difference is that if I really want to, I can zoom in on the shadow portion of the image and still see (clearly) images of some kids playing in the shadow, or that I can make out reflections of building structures from the dark windows in my picture. Once you've seen the "good" photograph, the first one looks bland, dull by comparison. The point is that the information is there if I wish to look for them but they don't jump out screaming to draw your attention to them. Had the details been overly emphasized, one's attention will be drawn to them and one will miss entirely the image's composition, as the case metioned above with some of the preamps on the brighter side. For myself, I'd like to have my focus on the well presented composition in its entirety, with the option of narrowing in on the details if (and only if) I wish to. Otherwise, I'd like to relax and enjoy the performance in its entirety. Perhaps the best description I can sumarize here is that the ModWright draws you into the musical performance while letting every bit of information flow through in a natural, cohesive fashion. It is up to the listener to decide what (s)he wants to hear depending on his/her mood at the time. I hope that I was able to draw a "visual" description of the characteristics of this preamp with my examples above

jcoat007 · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Jan 2005, 05:47 pm »

I would like to add my comments.

WOW!!!

That's all for now. I've got music to listen to.

More detailed comments to follow.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 03:53 pm »

Hi Guys:
There are a lot of audioholics out there who swear on a stack of CD's that the best sound reproduction is to hook the CD player directly to the amplifier. Naturally the CD player has to have a volume control. They think that eliminating the preamp and cables results in a big improvement. So I'm wondering if anybody using the Modwright SWL 9.0 preamps has tried this. Or better yet has anybody tried this bypassing of a top of the line preamp and what were the results.

Hey Danny:
I've been thinking about getting a new preamp and from what I'm reading it looks like you have a winner.

Cheers
Charlie

maxwalrath · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 08:10 pm »

I tried it with my cd player when I had the modwright. I forget the source, but it was going straight to a Odyssey amp. Everything sounded better with the modwright in the system.

modwright · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Jan 2005, 06:25 pm »

It really depends on the player and how good the analog stage in the player is. Honestly, most output stages in players are NOT that good and so a good preamp will provide the buffering and impedance matching that the amplifiers wants to see.

I believe that the strength of our preamp lies in the amount of current it is able to drive the amplifier with. To my ears, it is a matter of dynamics, body and musicality that are lost without a good preamp.

Max, if you liked the early Beta you owned, you would not believe the final product

.

Thanks,

Dan

maxwalrath · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Jan 2005, 08:12 pm »

Dan, that's what I'm hearing...I'm short on cash, but feel free to send one my way to give it an audition.

modwright · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Jan 2005, 04:47 am »

I'm short on cash too

. When I no longer have paying customers, I'll consider sending you one to audition.

Seriously though, I do appreciate your support and feedback Max. Everyone's input during the Beta process was much appreciated.

Take care,

Dan

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Jan 2005, 08:59 am »

Dan:
I'm not short on cash(or height) I just can't make up my mind.

Cheers
Charlie

audiojerry · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Jan 2005, 10:56 am »

I own Dan's modded P3A with a modded Monolithic PS, so I have great respect for Dan's work and listening ear. Except for the SAS 11a, I'm convinced I own the best preamp made - the SAS 10a hand built by Steve Sammet. But it would be very interesting to pit these two in the same ring for a head to head battle as they are in the same weight (price) class.

modwright · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Jan 2005, 06:16 am »

I hope that my earlier reply didn't come off as 'flip'

. It was meant in good humor.

At this time, I don't have a unit to send 'on tour', but we do have dealers in the following locations:

CA: Audible Arts - San Jose.
NY: Response Audio.
IL: Jam'n Audio.
GA: Underwood HiFi.
Portland: Echo Audio

I do understand that its tough to make a decision about gear without hearing it first. This is one of the reasons that I've decided to have a dealer network.

The unit will be reviewed in a number of on-line 'zines in the coming months and I am also working on arranging for a review in a couple of print magazines.

We have sold 34 units already and are still working hard to fill these orders. I am increasing my staff and our production rate is increasing well.

If you are undecided about our product, please call me and I will answer questions about specifications, design and voicing.

Thanks,

Dan W.

John B · « **Reply #10 on:** 15 Feb 2005, 05:58 pm »

I'll be able to give some impressions this weekend. I'm having a Audiophile Review session (8 members of the Bay Area Audiophile Society) at my place; and Dan is sending his new linestage to join the evaluation group. It'll be compared to a Bruce Moore Companion III tube preamp, Placette Passive preamp, and another pre-amp that was designed by a local member. Interestingly this guy thinks his Revox B225, which was built even before the first CDs were released to the general public, back in the 70's, will take the day as best pre-amp along with best CD player. I did hear it at this guys place, and for a 40 year old classic, it was surprisingly clean and natural sounding, but until you hear the stuff in your own rig, you just can't say. Should be fun.

John B · « **Reply #11 on:** 15 Feb 2005, 10:19 pm »

Randy,

I got your PM, however I cannot reply to it. The good folks at AC management have blocked my PM reply ability. Send me an email at jmbeavers@sbcglobal.net

Chris_B · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 02:51 am »

John - how did Dan's linestage sound this past weekend?

Bill Baker · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 04:09 am »

Greetings, I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I wanted to add a quick comment from one of my customers of the SWL 9.0SE. This is part of his initial impressions with more feedback coming when more hours are put on the unit. I think this sums it up pretty good.

Quote

........The preamp is outstanding, and my Art Audio Carissa Sig has never sounded better. What awesome sound I am getting!....

modwright · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 04:34 am »

While I can't and won't speak for John, RE the listening session, I can say that John B. bought a SWL 9.0SE for his reference system

.

Thanks,

Dan

modwright · « **Reply #15 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 05:12 am »

Here is a link to info about the recent shootout.

http://hometheatertalk.com/httalk/viewtopic.php?t=11681

Dan W.

John B · « **Reply #16 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 03:53 pm »

I want to thank Dan, and the owner of the SWL 9.0, for loaning us his unit for the Review shootout. It did everything well; a wide and deep soundstage, with pinpoint placement of the instruments within the soundstage. Acoustic ambience was amazing, you could hear the hall, studio, etc. of the recording envirnoment clearly, finer sonic details than I'm used to were present, tonally it was spot on natural sounding. The first day I used the stock Phillips tubes, and then my co-host of the meet and I switched to a Raytheon, which I found promoted more sparkle and shimmer to the high frequencies, though Karl felt the Phillips was more balanced sounding overall. Yesterday I tried a Sylvania, and with that I think I retained the high frequency sparkle and high definition, while gaining the balance of the Phillips. I've got two more nights to play with the linestage, and I'll go back to the Phillips to see if Karl was right at it being the best match, and then sadly I must take it back to it's owner. I'll take consolation in the fact that someone is going to be very musically happy on Thursday night. I'll use the time without, to write up the review, and perhaps catch up my reading

Chris_B · « **Reply #17 on:** 22 Feb 2005, 11:15 pm »

Very nice. It is also good to see that Dan's handiwork is being appreciated over at HTT too.

John B · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Feb 2005, 11:20 pm »

After taking the linestage to it's owner Thursday night, and speaking with him about it, I decided not to order the SWL 9.0 SE

Instead, I'm getting the SWL 9.0 Platinum!

What is it you ask? A special request by yours truly for a hot rod version of the SE. I'll post more when Dan completes the work and gives me the green light to talk more about it. This has got to be a first; the mod guy mod'ing his own new linestage by request

bart · « **Reply #19 on:** 25 Feb 2005, 11:54 pm »

A Platinum version?

What about all the folks who ordered the SE version (and spent the extra cash) so that they could get the BEST that Modwright had to offer?

Now there's a better before they even ship?