New BeePre2 sounds amazing

[sl-15]

I finished my BeePre2 a few weeks ago with no hick-ups or problems. I built my first bottlehead kits in 2008, a Seduction and Foreplay 3. Followed by a Crack and an Eros over the years. This was my first 2.0 kit and the layout and build process were noticeably easier and more streamlined. The voltage and resistance checks in between the built steps are really great, the manual was easy to understand and detailed and the built was fun as always. Also, the packaging of the kit was impressive. A big thank you to the bottlehead team, and I have not even commented on the sound yet! I am very much looking forward to building my Eros2 and S.E.X. 3 kit that are waiting in the queue.
I got both upgrades for the BeePre but I am planning on taking it slow. In the photos you can see the tubes for the output upgrade already installed but nothing is connected yet. The base is not finished yet, another project waiting for me.

 

[sl-15]

And the underside.

 

[sl-15]

At first listen I could tell a difference to my extended Foreplay3 but was not sure in what way exactly. The sound stage was different and the tonality for sure. Treble sounded much more extended and kind of hard. I decided to let it burn in for a good week, playing a CD on repeat over night with the main amp off.
Over the weekend I finally had some time to sit down and listen. I put on Herbie Hancock The Prisoner on vinyl while I was cooking to warm up the system. That album never stood out to me and I kind of filed it away in my 'need to listen again with more time and patience' category. The kitchen opens up to the living room where the system plays and I noticed that I was drawn into the piece that was playing. I had an easy time following the instruments and eventually I had this thought: I finally understand this album a little better. This in itself is a huge compliment I think. The music sounded so good and alive, instruments were realistic and in the room and nothing annoyed me. Some jazz can annoy me when it just runs in the background but this time it did not at all. The way the instruments played off each other and worked alone and then together again was another thing I had not noticed before in this way.
I am very curious how this will develop with more time and eventually the upgrades.
I have some ODAM caps on the way which will be my first upgrade.
Thanks Bottlehead for coming up with such great sounding gear, truly unique.

 

[Karl5150]

Looks, and from your short review, sounds great. I had never noticed how much room there is under the hood, although I'm sure the upgrades will use up a good portion of that, but it appears to be plenty of room builder's choice caps etc. Enjoy the music.
Karl

 

[Doc B]

Thank you for the kind words, Stefan!

 

[Cary]

Very nice Stefan!

 

[sl-15]

Thanks everybody, Cary are you still in SF?