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Warpspeed:Soloist. As the only match reasonably close on price, it logically was first. This became a meeting of friendly equals which weren't alike but close. What distinguished them was consistent and mild in gravity. It was of the basic give'n'take variety, hence equals. The Warpspeed was the more quicksilvery and lucid, the Soloist the more robust and warm. The 'squid's action was that of contrast enhancer. Think lemon juice. A spritz on a meal injects pep. Musically it affected the perception of 3D relief and perspicacity of transients. In the bass it veered towards wiry and striated rather than plump and weighty. It focused on separation acuity. The Aussie was a tad heavier and more stately.


Within the soundstage the Warpspeed peeled out more background information. The Burson worked body on foreground action. Dynamically the Soloist had a bit more gravitas whilst the 'squid felt quicker. In general and very predictably all this played out on the transparency versus body axis. The closeness simply put a lie to expectations of insufficient drive for the passive. That was frankly unexpected. If we invoke fairness based on price, the outcome was realistic and reasonable (not a given as we all know). Similar money made for similar performance. Differences were a matter of degrees and minor shifts. Those addressed taste rather than class distinctions of better or worse.


Warpspeed:Tap X. Where the first match had juxtaposed two resistives actuated by disparate means—light versus switch contacts—this was a duel between resistive and magnetic attenuation. It also introduced remote control as would be the case for the remaining matches. This plainly was a meeting of two lucid-mode champions strutting their stuff on Nudist Beach. But two differences remained. At the volumes I used, the Tap X had the better treble response for more heightened ambiance recovery, stronger performance auras and thus greater image lock. And whilst more lit up would conceptually go hand in hand with greater leanness and starkness, the Bent Audio machine actually had the silkier seal-skin textures. The Warpspeed played it a bit spikier to the smoothness of the X. I'd call the costlier machine the peer on performance and on functionality it'd be no contest. Yet already here a doubling of price failed to track with the performance delta which certainly wasn't twice better but a fraction thereof.

Warpspeed:C-03. At 0dB gain, the very pricey Esoteric already was second on lucidity or suchness—very much to its credit not by much—and not as dimensionally sculpted or spatially lit up and keen. Where it countered was with deeper grounding. It felt more anchored, its general gait more stately. It also had the more profound stage width, greater image density at the edges and grippier dynamics. At 12dB of voltage gain the C-03 built out its bassment while transient needlework mellowed and overall weightiness increased. 24dB progressed yet farther in that direction but for my tastes gave up too much energy and excitement in trade. All the various facets surrounding speed and incisiveness grew more opaque. If edge-of-seat directness and impulsiveness were tops, the 'squid would have won. What would a premium half 6SN7 per side bring to the table?

Warpspeed:LS-100. To my ears the 6SN7 is properly characterized as a 'big tone' bottle. In Dan Wright's simple 2-stage circuit, that element is harvested expertly. It never gets heavy-handed or lush. This strategic dose of minor perfume is why I prefer the more affordable ModWright preamp to the drier 6H30-powered LS36.5 two-boxer. The LS-100's action isn't primarily about harmonic envelope by the way. It's about temporal elasticity which—somehow—makes visible the inner breath of a tune. That's an unapologetically poetic description because the effect itself is somewhat poetic. If the Warpspeed's thing is directness, the LS-100's is elegance. The best way to illustrate the difference is well-recorded piano, say an Øystein Sevåg number. With the tube preamp each tone felt like a drop of water falling off a branch. There was a certain viscosity to it. With the passive it was more about hammer falls. Other core strengths of the active were bigger microdynamic ripples and more powerful bass. Its reading had rather more profound physicality to make the ModWright the biggest bodybuilder of the bunch. The 'squid instead was about the energetic contact high of the nearfield. Those who would have sided with the LS-100 would likely have called the Warpspeed too lean, fresh, frisky and 'speedy'.

As this walk down preamp boulevard demonstrated, swapping good samples of the breed impacts the feel of the playback presentation to an astonishing extent. What gets your vote will hinge on trigger points (dynamics, tone, speed, opulence) and the rest of the system. Relative to our review subject, the small box wasn't embarrassed by any of the encounters. If we eliminate cosmetics, price and brand image from the equation, it represented a particular take on things that was just as valid as all the others. Calling the light-triggered variable resistor approach any ne plus ultra is simply misguided or homegrown enthusiasm however. If it were any ultimate scheme, the recently reviewed Octave Jubilee, TAD C-600, Soulution 720 and Avantgarde Acoustic PRE units all would have it. Instead they use variations on the switched discrete resistor matrix. That doesn't invalidate the Warpspeed by one iota. It merely invalidates extravagant claims for its LDR parts.

Intermediate conclusion. Betraying no apparent strangulation effects from having to drive a 6-meter Zu Event RCA cable—no color bleaching or dynamic wimpiness—the Warpspeed majored on what Buddhists call tathata. Suchness. In our context it's the opposite of cozy and sleepy. It's very direct, fresh, immediate and in a good sense raw. There's no padding or buffering, no lipo injection. If the amp/speaker combo needs help, don't expect it from the Warpspeed. You'll also need a good source as driver. With such favorable conditions, most active circuits by comparison will seem to step on the brakes to varying degrees to make for a plusher less sporty ride. With lousy road conditions—bad recordings, bright lean electronics, zippy cables—you'll quickly wish for a softer suspension and different tyres. On a race track however—good recordings and/or all necessary tone mass accounted for by your source, amp and speakers—it'll be about celebrating testosterone. The operative word is quicksilvery. Time for different amplifiers and sources to learn more.
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