Maybe a Nord PRE-A preamp to complement the Nord poweramp?
https://www.nordacoustics.co.uk/product-page/nord-one-pre-a-pre-amplifer-black
https://www.nordacoustics.co.uk/product-page/nord-one-pre-a-pre-amplifer-black
Balanced preamp recommendation : w4s, hegel, parasound
Hi all,
I'm looking to change my audio Gd nfb1amp preamp for one with a real HT bypass (plus xlr input, 2 RCA inputs, RCA and XLR outputs...).
The power amp is a Nord Ncore 500.
I've found 3 candidates under 1500$ (used ones) :
- wyred4sound Mpre : great reviews a few years ago but very ugly
- hegel P20 : very few reviews, looks solid
- Parasound P7 : swiss army knife. Musical enough?
What are your views on these devices ? Is there other good choices for the same price ?
I prefer neutral/ warm sound than bright one.
I made some researches on the forum, I live in Europe so many brands are unavailable in my country (or too much custom taxes).
I saw the Schiit Freya, it hasn't real HT bypass, it's too bad, very affordable.
;)
I'm looking to change my audio Gd nfb1amp preamp for one with a real HT bypass (plus xlr input, 2 RCA inputs, RCA and XLR outputs...).
The power amp is a Nord Ncore 500.
I've found 3 candidates under 1500$ (used ones) :
- wyred4sound Mpre : great reviews a few years ago but very ugly
- hegel P20 : very few reviews, looks solid
- Parasound P7 : swiss army knife. Musical enough?
What are your views on these devices ? Is there other good choices for the same price ?
I prefer neutral/ warm sound than bright one.
I made some researches on the forum, I live in Europe so many brands are unavailable in my country (or too much custom taxes).
I saw the Schiit Freya, it hasn't real HT bypass, it's too bad, very affordable.
;)
7 responses Add your response
Beauty is only skin deep. In 1980, I brought home a NAD integrated amplifier to try with my Advent speakers despite my opinion that the NAD was ugly. It blew away my Marantz receiver and I bought the NAD. What a great sounding integrated amp that was. If you can, try as many preamps as possible making sure the output impedance is compatible with your amp. Good luck! |
Check out the Emotiva XSP-1 It is a two channel pre . It seems ruler flat to me . Any recording I play through it can be played at any volume without fatigue . dead quiet and just gets out of the way . I picked mine up in a group package I picked up to flip . This Emotiva is a keeper . I don't know what I would have to spend to get better results , and I cannot imagine what aspect could even sound better . It has tone controls if desired or defeatable by going "direct" mode . Has xlr and rca inputrs and outputs , Phono too . I am currently running a Nad silverline s200 amp with it into King Sound speakers and Adam audio Tensor Gammas . Makes both speakers shine |
+1, @stringreen, I also recommend the OP consider one of the Ayre Acoustics pre-amps. Please see: https://www.ayre.com/categories/pre-amps/ There are six Ayre pre-amps for sale on Audiogon at several different price points. |