Am thinking about this pre too, am looking forward to your impressions.
Bit the Bullet ... Don Sachs Model 2 Preamp
So, today I ordered a Don Sachs Model Two Preamp with upgraded caps to drive my 31K ohm SS power amp. This will replace my beloved BAT VK-3i, which I intend to keep ... of course, that could change if the DS Model Two blows me away sonically. I expect to have it in a few weeks. Did a fair amount of reaearch on the DS, and it had great reviews. It's tough to really know unless you hear it in your system. OK ... tell me if I did good on this one.
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I too own the DS2 and it’s met all my expectations and more. Dealing with Don has been a real experience. I owned the SP14 with a lot of upgrades, but had a damn ground hum in the left channel that I couldn’t exercise for anything. It was driving me nuts.. I called Don to see if could maybe shed some light on it, and he had me send it in. I think it took him less than 10 min to ID it and fix it.. while he had it open, he squared it away with Duelund wire Mundorf silver oil caps, Black Treasure tubes, 6BY5 Rectifier Mod. I got it back and was blown way. So much that I bought the DS2 for my 2nd listening room. Again, blown away.. sound stage wide and bowling alley deep. As good if not bettter than my Citation that was twice the price. .. Both were enjoyed driving my Cary 200.2 Power amp. Ultimately, The one he squared away drives my Cary Audio SA-200.2 SS Amp and it’s just killer. The DS2 is slated to drive Don’s KT88 stereo tube amp.. I can’t wait. Don also has freely answered all of my questions, when her didn’t have to do anything more than tell me to “send it in, I’ll get ‘er done” I can’t recommend this dude and his Audio Works enough. https://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/adlerburg1/0FD31DBD-EF63-4B92-9B07-7545F88AE98E_zpsigwapgwa.jpeg |
I took delivery of the DS yesterday. Initial impressions ... more height and width to soundstage, more air around instruments and voices, lots of micro- detail, and more b@lls to my system. No doubt, the "b@lls" part (in terms of slam and impact) comes from the large output caps running my low impedance power amp and sub. Only have about 6 hours on the preamp, but I like what I hear so far. DS says the unit really opens up after about 50 hours, so we shall see. It's very different from the BAT, but I will not be in a hurry to sell the BAT, if at all. Evaluation periods can take some time. |
Guys, I received my modified DS2 last week with Don’s latest Polish made Deulund copy oil caps and 6BY5 rectifier and it sounds amazing! I am hearing more transparency, better sound staging and imaging, more depth, lower floor noise, more air/ambiance. Bass is tighter, midrange is purer/more organic but you are going to be knocked over by its ”HOLOGRAPHIC” presentation; sounds emanating beyond the boundaries of my loudspeakers… It is astonishing how you are immersed into the music with Don’s DS2 Tube Pre; his original DS2 is Amazing but the updated version is “UNBELIEVABLE”! For those of you who are in the market for a new pre-amp, I highly recommend that you put this pre on your short list. If you already own one of Don’s creations, get this updated version done ASAP! I am not aware of any mods that can radically change the sound of a system for a very small investment. Act now and get your units in or orders placed soon… Wig :) |
This thread made me visit Don's page again and I have to say it looks like beautiful workmanship for the money, and the general consensus is that it sounds great. But what really impressed me is if you own an older component of his and want it with current revisions, the price is more than reasonable. $75 for a rectifyer upgrade including tube? That's a bargain. Pay for only parts after warranty is up? You don't see that too often....I like his straightforward no BS attitude too. If I were in the market for a new tube pre or amp I would give him serious consideration. |
Don Sachs here.. Tube life.. well it depends. All tubes in every piece I build are run very conservatively and not pushed at all. You should easily get many thousands of hours out of the 6SN7 types. The KT88 in the power amp should go 2000+ hours. The old American and Russian 6SN7 types will last a LONG time. The modern Russian and Chinese tubes.. well it depends. If you get a good pair, then they also go on forever, but some of the Chinese ones will get noisy. If you get 100-200 hours on a modern CV181 and they remain quiet, then they should go many years. Most problems seem to crop up in the first 100 hours. I play every tube set for 5-10 hours. If you get a noisy tube in the first 90 days, then of course I will replace it. To my ears in my system with my gear, the best sounding tubes are the Shuguang Black Treasure series. Even better than my Tungsol round plates, Sylvania bad boys, National Union black glass, etc... They have about a 5-10% failure rate in that they are noisy. So you just have to weed out the noisy ones, then they seem to last as long as any other tubes. The Shuguang Black Treasure CV181-T is about as good as it gets in my preamp and amp. One other point. If you spend big dollars chasing down NOS or lightly used old tubes, you will find that a high percentage of them are noisy as well unless you buy them from a vendor who tests for noise. If you just get some off ebay that were tested on a regular tube tester they will work, but many will be noisy. Caveat emptor.... |
Hi rlb61 Congrats on ordering the Don Sach pre, the consensus is that, for the money it's one of the best ones out there. His website on the other hand not so much. Do you know what the output impedance is? That is the only thing that may be of concern. I looked at his website but couldn't find specs anywhere. I have also been doing a lot of research in the last few months as I to am looking at upgrading my preamp. When it comes to affordable tube preamps between 2-4K that are supposed to sound great and after reading the blogs, forums and reviews, the same few names keep coming up. They are Supratek, Don Sachs, Aric, Dehavilland and Linear Tube Audio. I agree, nothing is more important than a home audition and a good return policy. Let us know what you think after you've had it for a few months. I hope it's everything you hoped for. Scot |
@scothurwitz ... I returned the DS preamp because it had suffered damage in transit and the wait in the queue was too long. Nice sounding preamp, but there wasn't a night and day difference between the DS and my BAT tube preamp. So, I kept the BAT preamp, bought a BAT power amp, and have gone fully balanced. Very happy with the sound. |
Also, the output impedance is about 410 ohms. That number is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the size of the output capacitor in relation to the input impedance of the following amplifier. .47 uF will drive about 80K or higher and be flat to 20 Hz. For 47K amps you need 1 uF output caps and for 30K amps you need 1.5 uF. Base prices of my preamps include a wonderful Polish oil cap in .47 uF. Going to 1 uF costs $80 and 1.5 uF costs $120. Anything larger than 1.5 uF requires that I use a Mundorf silver oil cap because the Polish caps are the same size as Duelunds, and 1.5 uF is the largest value that will fit in the case. |
Anyone know what the gain of the Kootenay 120 Amp is?... I’m trying to mate 10” stereo subwoofers with a selectable gain Hypex Amp. I’m happy to share my experience - Happy Model 2 Preamp and Kootenay 120 Amp owner here for 1.5 years. I’ve previously used non-corporate builders like Odyssey in the past. There’s always some trepidation at first, but Don’s excellent communication, customization, and attention to quality has made it a worthwhile and pleasurable endeavor that continues to yield excellent sonic results. I’ve found the Golden Voice KT88 to have reliable filaments compared to the Black Treasure KT88. It’s sometimes luck of the draw with Chinese sources, but Don is a respectable guy, and guided me in the right direction. I wouldn’t go anywhere else for sourcing these tubes. The Black Treasure KT88 and Golden Voice KT88 sound equally engaging, detailed, and extended. The Golden Voice is a little brighter at first, but after 50-100 hrs, it breaks in and settles in beautifully. The beauty of Don’s Amp is that the KT88 auto-bias, so they don’t have to be matched quads. In the Preamp, adding the Psvane CV-181T was like a veil had been lifted - open, transparent, extended, detailed, 3D, and airy, without losing coherence. It’s the best 6SN7 variant I’ve used so far. After trying the CV181T, I relocated the Shuguang CV-181z in the buffer position. I’ve tried NOS Sylvania 6SN7GTB Chromed Tops, RCA 6SN7GT, and sounded a slightly darker. I found the Psvane CV-181TII to convey more detail, openness, soundstage, without any edginess. The coupling caps are Jupiter Cu for tube output, and Mundorf Supremes for solid state output. I also have another set of outputs for subs and XLR. My phono preamp is a Manley Chinook with a matched quad of NOS Telefunken E88CC. It sounds great on the Don Sachs system... I’ve made DIY interconnects using Duelund DCA 20ga oil-impregnated wire, replacing the Shunyata Venom IC. I’m also using the DCA 12ga for speaker wire. The Duelund yields more micro-detail, coherence, and ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` My only wish is a future integrated tube amp... :) |
Yes Don Sach’s stuff is amazing. I have the preamp. Totally silent and lots of dynamics and great detail. Also had his amp for a little while too. That had lots of resolution. Had recently installed two dedicated 10ga audio lines and it was pretty sweet. I returned it because it was also damaged during shipping. Have him triple box the shipments. Paying the extra for another box is completely warranted. |
In case anyone out there is looking for one of these on the used market, I just put my heavily upgraded unit up. I've loved it for a year and a half, but recently commissioned a two-chassis all out assault built around the EML-20AM. It retails for almost twice the cost. I think my DS2 is likely the best sounding one in existence. Pure silver signal wiring, duelund CAST capacitors, silver WBTs, copper shielding, etc. A lovely pre that took my system to new heights. For people who already own the pre, I do strongly recommend the capacitor upgrade if possible. The pre gained a great deal of refinement and 3-dimensionality when I added the Duelunds. I also really liked Mundorf SGO Supremes in that spot. Amazing imaging, but a very slight reduction in bass for me. I found the stock Miflex's to be a bit 2 dimensional. |