I think Jeff's comments on the difficulties of comparative reviewing are very wise, and there must be 100,000 forum posts out there that are flawed for not heeding his caution about the intricacies of system context.
That said, I heard the Firebottle that Jeff had on loan and thought it was superb. I'm very impressed with what Alan has done here. I hear it slightly differently to Jeff, in that I found it very tonally full rather than lean, although it is a question of both semantics and perspective here. Jeff is right that there is a cleanness to the sound, and I suppose he is focusing on the space and clarity that creates. I heard the way that sounds are very clearly sculpted, and I heard excellent fidelity to the tonal body of instruments; of saxophones in particular (I always tend to focus on saxophones).
For example, I recently bought the Analogue Productions mono pressing of 'Blue Train', but I was a little underwhelmed when I listened to it either through my Diablo/NCPSU, or my Croft Micro 25 (but I was using this through the line out, so we can't make a faithful comparison here). The Firebottle put the saxophone forward in the mix, and gave it this very compelling body that I wasn't getting on the Diablo. It was the first time I'd really enjoyed this pressing.
Now to be faithful to Jeff's thoughts on context, I should say that I was using a Nagaoka MP500, and the first thing I heard when I installed this cart recently is how it puts the central voice of a recording quite forward, but gives it a really satisfying body. I heard that quality with the Diablo, but I felt the Firebottle really did it justice. What I can't really say is how much my comparative values are the result of a particular synergy. Actually the Nagaoka sounds really good with the Diablo, but perhaps the Diablo really shines the most with a dynamic MC cart that shares its values, whereas the Firebottle and the MP500 share the same tendencies and support each other.
On the other hand, I have read a comment on the Firebottle thread from a Nagaoka user who felt that whilst the match was good it might be too much of a good thing (presumably meaning that the sound became too rich, warm, or forward?). I can't see that happening, but it's worth remembering that some systems need a complementary strategy from source through the chain, whereas some systems benefit from a yin/yang approach, where different components offer different values (e.g. a very clean and dynamic MC cartridge through a system with very rich and full bodied valve amps).
However important it is to question the reviewing process, the clear message is that this is a truly engaging phono stage that has a good balance of virtues. I'm looking for a valve stage myself, and I'd really like to hear the new version in my system.
