Congrats on the Pass XP-12! Let us know how it sounds in your system. The Apt Holman preamp was legendary in its day.
Bryston BP-17 cubed or Benchmrk LA4 Preamp
My old Levinson No. 38s preamp is getting a bit long in the tooth. Oh, it is working fine; I've got the itch.
I have recently used a Cary CAD-120s in my system and found it less musical than my Bryston 2.5b cubed power amp, so tube preamps are out. Seems I just can't "appreciate" the tube sound.
I've been researching preamps. The Benchmark and the Bryston BP-17cubed (or other Bryston preamps) are the two that seem to meet my price and feature desires. But sound....don't know how these units differ. How different is the sound compared to my old Levinson? Which one(s) would you recommend?
My speakers are Usher V-604, a 2-way MTM floorstander, and a HSU sub.
Thanks for your help.
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This is a very long overdue update. I bought a Bryston BP-17 cubed last week. I'm head over heels pleased. What happened to the used Pass XP-12? Right our of the box, t heard a lot of sibilance and other high frequency screeching. I sent it to the factory. Pass found that two gain modules were out of spec. They replaced them with the current gain modules. After it returned, it still was shrill. I sold it. The BP-17 cubed works so much better in my system. It is definitely warmer than the XP-12. My amplification chain consists of the Bryston BP-17 cubed, their 2.5b cubed power amp and Revel f208 speakers. This is a surprising result, not one that I had anticipated, but one that I am quite pleased about. |
@kevemaher I find it interesting but not shocking that the Pass preamp did not pair well with your Bryston amp. System synergy and how it sounds to you is ultimately what is most important. I was considering a Pass XP-12 preamp to pair with my Pass amp and while I'd expect the pairing to work well, I ultimately went in a completely different direction. I purchased the Revelation Raven tubed preamp, the brainchild of Don Sachs and Lynn Olson, from Spatial Audio and it brings a big smile to my face every time I listen to music. |
Well, here's an update on my exceedingly frustrating search for a new preamp. I've listened all month to the used Bryston BDP-17 cubed I bought a month ago, It took a while, but I've concluded that it too produces a sibilance that I just can't stand to listen to for long, even if this sibilance is far less noticable than in the Pass preamp. I put the Levinson no 38s back into the system. Bingo, great sound, no sibilance (unless it is on the recording). But it is 30+ years old. Listener bias? The sibilance from the Pass and Bryston is most noticable on the early Decca LPs of Wagner's Ring, particularly the ones that were recorded in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. It was recorded in a former dance hall by John Culshaw and conducted by Georg Solti. The first LPs from this era had a lot of sibilance and some screechiness on voices. It is listenable with the 38s, intolerable with the BP-17 cubed and the XP-12. Maybe the 38s is missing some detail that the others pick up. So they might be more true to the source. I do know that the 38s creates music is can listen to without worrying about when the next insult to my ears will come. It stays, for now. I've not tried a tube preamp. I have an 80s Paragon System E preamp. I have completely rebuilt the power supply with all new components. I'm now using this amp as a phono preamp. I enjoy the smooth mellow sound I get on LPs with this preamp. I will temporarily replace the 38s with the Paragon E. If I really like it, I will find a way to keep it in the system as my preamp. But since it is quite old, I am also searching for a modern day tube preamp, such as the Linear Tube Audio microZOTL preamp. The big downside of the Paragon is that there is no remote. I'll need to find a workaround for that.
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