General Asylum: REVIEW: Hovland HP-100 VS CAT Ultimate Preamp Hovland HP-100 Preamplifier (Tube) by Johnnybegood

Model:	Hovland HP-100
Category:	Preamplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price:	$6500
Description:	Tube Preamp
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by Johnnybegood ( A ) on April 04, 2002 at 08:38:46
IP Address: 12.13.238.141

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for the Hovland HP-100

Having owned the Cat Ultimate for over 2 years I became very fimilar with its sound and flavor. Two months ago I bought a new Hovland HP-100 Preamp as my new reference. The following is a summary of the two preamps and how they compair. First and formost on both preamps replace the stock russian tubes with NOS, I perfer the Amperex but others are good too, see the tube asylum. The Cat Ultimate Preamp is one of the most revealing and detailed tube preamps on the market. It is musical, dymamic and has great bass impact and slam. It is very transparent with speed and a pristine clarity across the entire frequency range however is is a bit on the lean side of nuteral so system matching is important. If your ststem or speakers are already somewhat lacking in body then be carefull with selection of matching components. My new Hovland HP-100 is now totally broken in and I have the MC phono stage option which is used for my Temper Supreme Cartridge mounted on a Graham 2.2 arm and Orbe Turntable. The first thing I notice with the hovland is it has more body and texture that the Cat. If I was taking a photograph with my Cat it would be at 12 Noon with full sunlight in the summer, with the Hovland it would be taken at 5-6PM in the eveing showing different shades, textures and colors in the picture. The Hovland is the most balanced preamp I have heard with a Smoooooth and sweet midrange along with body and fullness as its hallmark. It has excellent detail, perhaps the cat has a little bit more but not by much, but most of all it brings me closer to feeling the live music with pure notes played in a natural tone. The Cat Ultimate may have more bass slam than the Hovland but I am more involved with the music listning to the Hovland. The phono stage in the Hovland is excellent and allowed me to drive my .25 mv Temper Supreame nicely, something my cat could not do. In conclusion both preamps are excellent but quite differnt in there presentation of music. For me now I perfer the hovland but I also really enjoyed the CAT in the 2 years I had it. Both are excellent examples of different design philosophies

Product Weakness: Has Great detail & transparency but not quite as much at CAT, BAT, Audio Rearch exct. Its many strengths far more that make up for it.
Product Strengths: The Hovland has great Balance with body and texture to the music. Pure and involving with Zero brightness and very smoooth.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Jadis Defy 7
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Hovland HP-100
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Orbe
Speakers:	Merlin M with Rel Subwoffer
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber Select 1030
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all
Room Size (LxWxH):	22 x 16 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	none
Time Period/Length of Audition:	60 days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	BMI Whale Elete Power chords
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Has Great detail & transparency but not quite as much at CAT, BAT, Audio Rearch exct. Its many strengths far more that make up for it.
Product Strengths:	The Hovland has great Balance with body and texture to the music. Pure and involving with Zero brightness and very smoooth.