CAT SL1 Legend BPX Preamplifier & Power Supply - Total Black Path Audio Chain.

All in excellent condition apart from a small mark to the top (see final three photos).

240V ~ 50/60Hz

One owner from new (December 2018), around 400 hours use, serviced by Hearaudio January 2023 and unused since then.

Any questions re. discounts, shipping etc. - please call.

Will be very well packed and shipped on a small pallet via tracked delivery - or collect and save on the delivery charge

Overseas bidders please send a message for a shipping price and please note you will be responsible for payment of any local duties and taxes upon import.

Description:

The SL1 Legend BPX Total Black Path Audio Chain and Power Supply

TWENTY EIGHT Super Exotic Black Path Capacitors in the audio path AND the power supply (Pretty sexy looking if you’re into quality!) We are proud to introduce the latest improvement to the Legendary SL1 Preamp. The Original SL1 Legend Black Path Edition used the revolutionary Black Path capacitor design in the 0.22UF interstage coupling cap. That’s two in the Line and two in the phono. 

Many sharp people have asked “why don’t you use the Black Path technology for the big output coupling caps also?” Unfortunately our answer was that we couldn’t get the special film thin enough to make those capacitors in a reasonable size. Not a very satisfying answer for the perfectionist customer or the perfectionists at CAT. Now we finally got the film made. We had to order tons of the film needed to make these caps – we have enough for 10 years or more! 

Unlike any other capacitor order CAT must supply the film and CAT must stock the film for future orders. This is a big investment, but we have made such enormous investments in the past, such as when we purchased 3 1/2 skids of the Legendary Black Gate electrolytic caps to use in the power supply of the SL1 Legend. That was 10 years ago and we still have one skid left! (BTW the Bulk of these Black Gate capacitors were purchased for this very preamp, the Legend, and when they are gone it will be impossible to make more Legends!) So What makes the BPX version of the SL1 Legend even more special than the BPA version of the SL1 Renaissance? In the BPX version of the Legend we have taken the Black Path upgrade to the extreme! We have also included the Black Path capacitors in the POWER SUPPLY!!!! BTW do you know ANY other company which uses even audiophile quality caps in their power supplies, much less something as exotic as the Black Path? 

Recently we did an experiment to see if we could use the world’s most well-known and respected audiophile cap manufacturer’s product in our power supply. We reasoned that if we could use this well-respected brand in our product it might impress certain types of audiophiles. It would also be our own little inside joke that we were “only using them in the power supply – not in the signal path”. 

We expected that there would be either no difference or it would be minimal. We were surprised that it was quite easy to hear, in fact in certain power supply positions it was BIG and in even the most “insignificant” PS locations it was still clearly audible! We realized immediately that CAT can’t do something like this just to attract that “hype-driven” type of consumer because a sonic step back like this would betray the stalwart CAT fans worldwide. We then came up with a really crazy experiment – we already had the preamp set up with PC pins so that we could install new caps easily, so why not, just for fun, install a bunch of Black Path caps? We did and the sound was significantly improved! 

At first we tried to ignore what we just heard because we didn’t want to even think about the effect this would have on the price, but CAT has always been the huge overachiever in High-End Audio electronics. We’ve been proud of our ability to bring the absolute best sound in at a reasonable price. We finally realized that even with the substantial price increase this would entail, the SL1 Legend would still be an amazing bargain. It will destroy all preamps at ANY price including those which cost several times more! So we have done it! The latest SL1 Legend BPX will be 100% Black Path capacitors in both the audio path and the power supply! Another big improvement – the audio path wire is now the new Black Path hookup wire. It uses a special proprietary low-loss dielectric. This gives us not only greater transparency due to this new dielectric, but also a big solid sound with weight and authority. 

The SL1 Legend Black Path eXtreme is now going into production. This preamp makes all others sound like toys. The music is reproduced with a transcendent natural beauty. The beauty and emotional involvement we have aspired to achieve for many years. We are confident that the SL1 Legend BPX will handily beat any preamp made today at ANY PRICE. This preamp has no “competition”

There has never been a more appropriate name for any preamplifier than this.

Dozens of new preamps have been raved about as “the best ever,” “state of the art,” or “the last preamp you will ever buy” only to wind up on the trash heap of history selling online for next to nothing, or just sitting in some old basement unused for decades.

The first preamplifier in history which could be called “legendary” is the Marantz Model 7, culminating in the especially famous “C” version. The 7C went on to be THE most coveted preamplifier of the 1950s and continued to sell for decades. The Marantz 7C was never bested for 30 years, until the introduction of the SL1 by CAT.

The Legend is to the SL1 what the “C” version was to the Model 7: perfection polished to an ethereal sheen. By far the finest preamplifier available today and we predict it will remain so for the next 30 years because, after all, Legends never die.

Reviews:

"There is honesty, beauty, and authority in the Legend’s sound, and in equal parts.” - SoundStage!

“The level of perfection [the Legend] reveals is almost unbelievable.” - LP Magazine

Specifications: