2. amps-preamps
  3. 1042614426

Cheap Bryston active or Creek OBH12 passive?

My first audiophile-grade system is in need only of a preamp:

Joseph Audio RM22si signature speakers
Music Hall CD 25 CD player
McIntosh MC2105 amp
Kimber 4TC biwire speaker cables and Signal Cable 2 interconnects

So far for preamps, I've tried using my Denon home theater receiver as well as no preamp (going straight into the McIntosh amp and dialing down the gain controls). Using no preamp wins for clarity and musicality over the Denon for sure (the Denon adds a murky layer over the music), and it seems to be a good match going CD straight to amp (Mac has a very high 220k input impedance). But it's not practical to keep switching cables, so I need a pre. I want to get something cheap for now, around $200 used. I listen to all types of music, from rock to vocals to classical, but more rock than anything else.

And now the simple question: In this system, what do you think would sound better, a Creek OBH12 passive, or a Bryston .4B, .5B, etc? If the Creek wins in your opinion, I'm curious to know roughly how much you think I would need to spend on an active pre before it would start sounding better than the passive. I'm only considering solid state right now, don't want to worry about replacing tubes just yet.

Thanks,
Matt.
matt8268

Showing 1 response by matt8268

matt8268 OP
92 posts
 
Okay, a bit more info on my system:
Mac amp has input sensitivity of .5V, does anyone know output voltage of the Music Hall CD 25? I can't find it.

Signal Cable's Analog 2 interconnects are 10 ft between CD and pre and 2 ft between pre and power. But these cables have only 17.3 PF/FT of capacitance, so even at 10 ft that's only 173 PF (that's still an acceptibly low capacitance, yes?). If people think I would get much better sound by shortening the 10 ft cable, I could try shorter cables (would have to move things around).
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