Juicy

I first read about this in Art Dudley's October 2006 Listening column in Stereophile, but since then it has popped up in a few other places. The BlueBerry Xtreme is a stereo tube preamp by JuicyMusic, a small audio company in Ferndale California. And by small, I mean small. From the web site: "I design, build and support every piece in the great traditions of craft. Everything is built in Ferndale, California, and when there's a need for service or support, there are no fingers to point - it will be me on the telephone.... --Mark Deneen". I know that to be in the Hi End audio business you have to love what you do, but I have a special place in my heart for small audio companies, run by people who do it all by hand. Now, I have not heard this preamp, and I am not sure when I will be able to. Plus, it only has one main out and I need two for my purposes, but I love the idea, and I wanted to give them a shout.

Bigger Than a Normal Room

Over the summer my friend Ben picked up a Modwright SWL 9.0SE preamplifier. I had listened to it a little since he picked it up, but last night I was really able to spend some time listening to a wide range of music through the Modwright. I was very impressed.

His system had always sounded good, but with the addition of the Modwright the presence of the performance really stepped up. I would listen to most of the music with my eyes closed, and every time a piece of music ended and I opened my eyes I was surprised how small the actual room I was sitting in was. The music always sounded bigger. The music was very detailed. On Shady Green Pastures by The ARC Choir off of Mapleshade's Music Festivaldisc, I heard what I think was the choir stomping their feet in time to the music. I had never heard that before, even on a bit B&W/VTL system. It was pretty exciting. We listened to an aria, it was part of Ben's collection, I am not sure what it was, but when I closed my eyes I could feel the presence of the singer on the stage. It was much fun.

I hope to be able to spend some more time with this system in the future, and Ben said he might even bring it over to try out in mine. I can only hope.