Chameleon Labs 7602 vs ART MPA Gold?

[dickiefunk]

Has anyone on here had experience with both of these preamps?

I'm interested in hearing about how the 7602 compares to the MPA Gold with NOS tubes?

[kojdogg]

i do, though not with nos tubes for the art, and i didn't have the art for a long time-- i ended up returning the art and using the $ towards the 7602.
both sound good, though the 7602 adds the transformer 'coloration,' which obviously makes the art cleaner by comparison. the 7602 can get kinda distorted which is good or bad depending on what you're going for in the upper gain settings. the eq is rad and useful.
i dunno about the mk II though-- it's supposed to have some improvements and some dealers offer them with preinstalled upgrades (carnhill transformers, upgraded caps, etc.).
if i had to choose one and were mostly recording one source at a time i would go for the 7602.

[dickiefunk]

Thanks for the reply. I would be looking to use the preamp for vocals. I would like something warm, smooth and punchy to compliment my Tampa.

[dickiefunk]

How would you describe the tone of the Chameleon Labs?