I like the way it sounds with the Schoeps a lot better than the way it does with the Gefells. Schoeps > Sax is a well established marriage that's worked well for you for a long time. Now you have a smaller bag, a lot less connections and the same great sound. Hell yes I'm jealous.
I'm sure Teddy will have some AKGs for you to try. I want to hear it with Jessie's Funken Tubes.
Joe, I do think there is a somewhat brighter sound with this than my old rig. I'd describe the difference as brighter and more open but still a beautiful warmth to it with more accuracy in the instruments.
I think the gefell hypers would have been a better match for that room.
I don't think it sounds brighter with the MK41's, at least not in a bad way... more open? Yeah maybe a little. I think the pre's are probably identical, you've taken the apogee out of the loop.
When I heard the Gefell source my first thought was "Hmmm too sparkly." I listened again the next day and I liked it. Gefells, at least the M20 card caps, have a fairly generous presence hump, and SX-R4 may tend to emphasize that rather than minimize it. IMO the same with the the few Gefell/SX-M2 tapes I've heard. That's not a dig against the Sax, just an observation. Some combos are magically delicious, and some aren't.