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SAS Audio Labs*
Reference Tube Preamplifiers
Where Music Comes Alive TMThings are Done Differently Here, See Below:
Martin DeWulf, publisher of Bound for Sound, Issue #163: SAS Audio 10A tube Preamplifier is one of only 3 listed in "Exceptional Merit" catagory.
"I expecially feel that way about the SAS (Audio Labs) 10A, a tube unit of moderate expense that simply stomps a mud hole in just about every active unit made - regardless of price."
Review #178, Bound for Sound, 11A Line preamplifier:
"Direct comparisons to my old friend, the Symfonia Opus 8 ($7,000), revealed the SAS to be cleaner, more transparent and more organic through the midrange... Remember, it was the Symfonia Opus 8 that went toe-to-toe with the exalted CTC Blowtorch ($15,000)." (The CTC Blowtorch team included John Curl, Bob Crump, and Carl Thompson.)
Rich Weiner, Reviewer for Bound for Sound, 2004 (He purchased the 11A. The 10A is in his second system.):
"The SAS 10A is the most musically truthful preamp I'm aware of, and I will expand that statement by listing some of the line stages I've had in my otherwise very stable system: Herron VTSP-1, VAC CPA III, VAC Standard LE, Audio Research 3A, ARC 8, ARC 10, Mark Levinson ML-1, Levinson ML-7, Levinson ML-10A, Original Aronov PS-100 and Musical Concepts modification, Nagra PL-P, Beveridge RM-1, Rappaport, Placette Passive - there are more, but you get the point. Until I got the 10A, I struggled to make the other components live up to their potential."
Welcome to SAS Audio Labs. SAS Audio Labs produces some of the finest preamplifiers in the world, regardless of cost. The reasons are somewhat simple, yet complex. They are attention to details and stringent proprietary multi-methode testing that took years to develop. Others, regardless of cost are simply "voiced" in a "reference system".
Simply "voicing" in a "reference" system will not tell us if any component in the system is actually accurate, lifelike to the music, or whether the system is a series of compromises. In otherwards, the quality of the preamplifier being "voiced" is dependent upon the quality of the rest of the system.
Here is an important principle. Only the preamplifier and interconnect cables (ICs) can be tested for true transparency, dynamic, lifelike, emotional accuracy. If we can eliminate the preamplifier and ICs from the equation, we have eliminated 3 variables. This makes it much easier to match the remaining components and especially the speaker to the room. The preamplifier and ICs actually become the foundation of the system.
I spent years developing proprietary multi-method listening tests and it certainly was not easy. Even the most expensive preamplifiers are not tested and checked for true accuracy, just voiced like the inexpensive ones. My methods are truly a major advancement.
No one has been able to tell if my 11A preamplifier or ICs are in the system or out. (By the way, simply removing the preamplifier from the system is an invalid test as one is also removing an IC, etc, tainting the results.)
When one can produce a component that rivals or surpasses designs created by John Curl, Bob Crump, and Carl Thompson, that is indeed an accomplishment.
You are most welcome to join the SAS Audio Labs forum for more info at:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sasaudio2000/
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