I'm in midst of changing things in my system and the next thing I want to try is a tubed pre-amp. I do plan to change my speakers to Paradigm S4 and would like to know which pre-amps would work. As for music it varies from Jazz(mostly) to live theater,dance,pop, etc...
My budget is at most 2500.00 new or used. I figured at that price point I can come away with something that I can live with for awhile and totally outclass the Pre-amp section of my receiver.
At that price point new I can come away with a BC21.1 as it allows me the options of the Shallco and a processor loop.
My questions are: What do the members here think of the BC?Will it work in my system. Is it a quite unit and and does it respond well to both tube rolling and PC upgrades.
Finally are there any others I should consider besides the VTL2.5/5.5. I know there's more but I drawing a blank.
I do not know if I can contribute more than confirm what has already been said. IMO the best value for money and sound right now is the Modwright 9.0SE. I spent a lot of time with the beta unit and compared the production unit to other active and passive preamps in the $2500-5500 price range (CJ, BC, BAT, SF and Herron on the active side; Placette and Channel Island on the passive side). The Herron was lovely but the Modwright may have been better....in my system. Go with the Modwright and then work on a new front end. The stock tubes are very good and retubing costs nothing.
Beware of Convergent Audio Technology preamps. The owner/designer is very clear about wanting to service his own products and does not encourage upgrades. The capacitors are all very securely epoxied (or some type of glue like a rock) to the PCB. My tech called up CAT and was told there is a solution to reduce this glue but we could not have it; ie, send it back to CAT if you want work done on it.
I sold mine immediately. I kept it for about three weeks. I want to be able to upgrade capacitors and so on as required.
I owned a BC 21.1 and thought it was great for the price. It is superbly constructed and looks cool too. You can coax excellent sound out of it with some nicer tubes and I had great results using a Stealth Cloude nine power cord with it. It has a ton of gain. I put a couple of Tantalums in one of the inputs to pad down the gain a bit.
This is my first venture into putting together a system. Right now I can't afford the likes of BAT, Aesthetix and the like. So I'm looking for something to start me off on a good foot.
Hi, in the first place: what is a beginners pre-amp? I think there are two options regarding preamps and audio gear in general: a bad and a good sounding one. Currently there aren't actually any bad sounding units (otherwise they are defective). With your budget there are nummerous possibilities to choose from. Acoustic Reality has also a preamp that can be had for far less than the price you've mentioned.
I would highly recommend a CAT SL-1 MK 3 tube pre-amp. Price for a used piece will be around $2300 for line-stage only. It features out-board power supply, stepped attenuators, balance control and has a high resale value. Phono units are available but will be a little more.
The sound of this piece leans more on the bright/forward side but that will vary from tube choice. There is no hookup for home theatre/bypass and is strictly for 2-channel setups.
VTL Ultimate...a great preamp with two phono inputs; one high output and one low output. Has a tape loop/moniter out, two pre outs and is a true dual monaural down to having two power supplies.
Try one of Kavents preamps, sound as good as most that are two to three times there cost.. They are very impressive for the cost... If you end up spending over $2000.00 , go for the Modwright SWL 9.0SE for $2200.00.. www.kellsieavdesign.com or www.modwright.com Dave
For around $2K used you could probably find a Herron VTSP-1a, I have one and love it. It's reliable, low maintenance, fantastic sounding, and the quietest tubed preamp I've ever owned. You could do a lot worse, and you would have to spend a lot more to do much better. I will say that I've also heard rave reviews about the deHavilland UltraVerve, but I've never heard one. Good luck and happy listening!
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
