Just finished a listening session with the ModWright KWA100 and I'm pretty impressed. Very fast and detailed, I'm getting small detail out of my music I've not realized before. And as stated its fast and crisp, especially on the top end and its throwing me off a bit. It's not that it sound bad or harsh its just that its like hearing a song for the first time. Detail not previously audible before. In addition the sound stage has widened although no addition perceived depth. So for not I'm going to remain on the fence until I do some more listening. I'm not concerned with break in because this was a dealers demo so I'm pretty sure it has more than enough hours on it.
I'm also going to see if using XLR's make any difference but that will have to wait until I can find some cables to borrow or at least some at a good price. Anyway, stay tuned as there is more to some :yes:

Don,

Glad that you're enjoying it so far...I think! :D It's always interesting swapping things in and out of your system. It really is amazing that music can sound so different. Maybe it has something to do with the new speakers as well. :dunno: Keep us updated as things continue.

Was that your MC240 I saw on Audiogon?

Glad to hear your impressions Don! I've heard similar feedback about the KWA100 - one of it's strengths is being nicely detailed, in particular at lower volume levels and not just up loud. Also so much of what we end up hearing in our system is about synergy, especially when mixing different manufacturer's equipment. I will be testing that out on the preamp side with the LS100 in my system in a month or two hooked up to my MC501s.

As far as cables go, I'm sure that if you reached out to a the right person here at AA, or if they are paying attention to this thread, they would be willing to hook you up with a good deal! :yes:

Synergy, something I truly believe in. That being said I think the only pre that would not add any coloration would be a passive preamplifier. I do look forward to your LS100 impressions, that is unless I get my hands one first :)

Yep, that's my 240 alright. It's not the one that I just purchased, it's the first one I had acquired a little over a year ago. I picked it for sale only because everyone seems to want them completely stock and the one I recently purchased has had some work done on it. Sonically no difference as far as I can tell.
Anyway back to the 100. It is really different and will likely take some adjustment on my part. As for the Harbeth's these are from the same person and were also part of a demo system. Although with both the ModWright and the Harbeth's I truly don't know how many hours each has on them. My assumption is they are broken in. Currently I'm taking down the Christmas tree and have music playing as I work. Later I'll do some more critical listening.