with Conrad Johnson mono blocks, T+A CDP, ZU speakers and Siltech cabling. I knew the Vincent performed well in my system, but you really dont know what you have until you stack it up and shoot it out with other gear....that is when you see how well you've spent your money.....or not.

I want to say out front, none of this is meant to slam Mr.Peabody. He along with 2 other guys here, Leroy and Poppachubby I consider good friends and these three I have spoken to many many times outside this forum and welcome their advice without hesitation.

I also want to say to all those who have doubts about Vincent. I have heard and read a lot of the negative print about it being a rebaggaged Shengya. Well I've read where Vincent said they are a German company that builds in China at the Shengya plant and I have read where Shengya its self has confirmed this and said their own products, (Shengya Electronic) shares some of the VIncent designs but Vincent uses more expensive parts.

Bühler Elektronik which is a German company and to which out of grew Sintron, the parent German company of Vincent. It was an engineer and managing director, Mr. Uwe Bartelo, who worked for Bühler Elektronik that was the founder and sought out high end Chinese manufacturing for the high end manufacturing of the Vincent product with very carfull Continuous quality control. Of course that high end manufacturing was Shengya Electronics.

So I am perfectly satisfied with Vincent audio and will continue to purchase their products if needed, which are afordable with performance that goes way beyond what you pay.

So when I first got to Peabodys, we listened to the CJ gear first. I forget the first tune we listened to...it was brief as Mr. P said a few things about the bass of the ZU and how he really felt it was not good at all. I listened and while not trying to be to negative about his speakers I did say I agreed that it should be slamming. But to my thinking the overal sound was just not popping the way I like my music. Then MrP and I went into another room where he had the Emotiva CDP and Emotiva preamp and Bryston and Parasound amps bi amped to a set of Klipsch Heresy's and Emotiva sub woofer and he proudly turned that rig up to ear bleed levels to get his bass fix. It was fun.

Then back to the CJ rig to listen some more and he put on Alisha Keys. This is where I really got a good listen to the CJ/ZU speakers. Man the sound was recessed and to me it had this sound like when you put both your hands around your mouth and yell. The supper tweeter in my opinion was louder than the entire sound coming from the ZU speakers....the bass was like it was not even there. It was not strong at all, and the whole sound was like it had no pop or life at all. No emotion or romance It was just there. I will say though it was thick and warm it was clear and the high notes coming from the supper tweeter hung in the air, but it was also really warm and colored to the point of having no emotion or excitement. Of course these where my thoughts as I was listening. Dont know if this is the CJ house sound or not.

As Mr. Peabody was scrolling through a few more songs on the Alesha Keys CD I noticed the lack of bass and then turned to Peabody and said the ZU should have more bottom end....should be slamming. That big speaker putting out week bass as it was is no good. Two big 18 inch woofers with bass that just sounds flat. But the tweeter was the brightest thing there ahead of every thing else....and the notes from that tweeter where just hanging in the air. But at this point Peabody nor I knew just how bad the sound was, nor did either of us have any idea that it was not the fault of the ZU speakers.....until we swapped out the CJ CT5 preamp with the Vincent SA-T1 preamp.

At this point as Peabody was swapping the two preamps, I was thinking man, I hope the Vincent can perform as well as the CJ. (not knowing it was not the speakers that made the sound so blah) I knew the Vicnent was good, but hey....Im going up against Conrad Johnson...a staple in the audio world of gear.
So the swap was on...and then we hit the power botton and listened. The first 5 minutes we both just listend and to my ears the Vincent sounded ok seeing the tubes in the Vincent was still cold and not warmed up. We both listened and said nothing. Then as the tubes got warmer I could hear it. The ZU speakers came to life and Peabody knew it. The Zu all of a sudden had a bottom end. We both continued to listen. I noticed the sound stage was not recessed at all. Peabody even said the sound stage was more forward meaning it was not as if we where sitting in the back row. The treble/supper tweeter was not as out front of the music as it had before. The overal presentation was just great like it should be. Peabody asked me if this was a high current preamp. The thickness of the sound was gone. there was more life in the music...things where popping and to my ears the ZU was like it had a transfussion. Peabody made the comment that the Vincent had a darker background. I am telling the truth...this is when I and MrP discovered that the CJ was a much warmer, colored preamp that can not drive the ZU to have a more fuller sound. The Vincent gave the ZU speakers the much needed juice to make it come alive. I mean every faze of the music was hitting hard. At this point I asked Peabody to switch out the ZU with the Dynaudio's. So we made the switch....and man I discovered I had been giving the Dyns a bad rep. While they are not as lively in the upper ranges of the sound as I like, they where not the boring speakers I had thought they where. It was the saturation of a very warm, colored, lifeless sound of the CJ that made them sound like they where boring to me. Now with the Vincent, the Dyns where all of a sudden alive! They had a tweeter that had a little sizzle, but the midrange was rich and plush and the bottom end bass was hitting even harder. At this point Peabody put on Venessa Williams and her voice was very rich and warm the way I like it....the romance was back in Peabodys system...full of emotion.

We put the CJ back in place and we got more of the same thick colored no bass no life sound as before, and we them put the Vincent back in and had life again. We then put the CJ back in and played some vinyl on the Rega p-3 with the Dynavector cart. We noticed the speakers had a little more bass through the TT. I think it was becasue of the Phono amp that Peabody has. BUt I can say this with confidence and not trying to hurt Peabodys feelings. The Vincent out performed the Conrad Johnson. What the CJ did do better than the Vincent was have a little more detailed bass line...but other than that, the Vincent just made the system sound really good and much better than the CJ preamp.
I also want to say I am not saying that all CJ gear sounds like this but the two CJ Peabody has had, they both had that same very thick, warm, colored sound. Now the CJ power amps that he has are great, While they are tube they are almost as tight as any SS amp, but they are a very good amp especially matched with the Vincent....but the preamp in my opinion is not what I would want in a preamp. Peabody even said him self, that I got a very good deal on the Vincent. The Retail price of the Vincent SA-T1 preamp is $1500. Because it had been used as a demo, I was able to get it for $900.

I will be sending a copy of this to Peabody via email. I've told Peabody he should do some tube rolling to see if that helps...if not he should consider another preamp.


In the words of my good buddy Poppachubby....the VIncent is "a giant killer"