2. amps-preamps
  3. 1209044329

Help with finding ultra-transparent pre-amp

I got a new player, Wadia 581i SE, and once I hooked it up directly to amps I realized that my pre-amp is not transparent enough.
To make a long story short, I would like to find a very transparent pre-amp to be inserted between player and amps (no coloration, no shift in tonality, and no loss in dynamics, micro or macro), that would result in a sound indistinguishable from the sound of my player going directly to amps.
Essentially I want a wire with attenuation control. Balanced connectivity is preferred.
I tried a transformers based passive pre-amp (it was a custom, very well executed job), result was not good, not only that it killed dynamics and resulted in a dull and uninteresting sound, but transparency was in fact worse in comparison with my present pre-amp.
Is there such a transparent pre-amp, or it is just a pipe dream?
The cost is of course to be considered, I would not go for anything that is more than let’s say 3.5K, new or used.
I have been reading about Placette (resistor based), has anyone had any experience using it in a system that has very resolving front end?
The rest of my system:
Bryston BP26 pre-amp
Bryston 7B SST amps
PMC IB2 speakers
sashav

Showing 3 responses by jagdynamics

jagdynamics
28 posts
 
Tvad, sorry you took this personal, I am only telling Sashav that the Lamm LL2 Deluxe can be a good choice and not to rule it out because of one negative thread. If you don't like what I have said, then take a hike and leave your thoughts out of this forum.
Sashav, good luck on finding the right preamp. I have had many high end preamps and I have found this LL2 deluxe to be just as good as most very high end preamp as a stock preamp and at a very reasonable price. With the modifications that I have done on this LL2 Deluxe, it will be very hard to find any stock preamp to out perform this preamp.
jagdynamics
28 posts
 
I agree with Mrtennis. There are many great solid state preamps along with tube amps that will do well with the Wadia 581i SE. To name a few solid state preamps that I have enjoyed in the past were (Accuphase C-2800,MBL 6010D ref.,Spectral DMC-20 ref.,) tubes: (First Sound Paramount Mk II SE,VTL 6.5 sig.,CJ Art series 2, VAC Renaissance Mk II sig.). The reason I chose the Lamm LL2 Deluxe because of its price range, and it perform the best for its resolution (1.5hz-400khz), extreme transparency (neutral) when using my Stax 4070 cans/SRM-007tII driver. By using the Stax system and having a very good source, I was able to be very critique on the audio gear. Good Luck!
jagdynamics
28 posts
 
I disagree with Tvad..............the Lamm LL2 Deluxe is one of the best preamp when using 1950's black sable mullard tubes and all the Vishay caps are replace with Vcaps TFTF/OIMP and Mundorf silver/gold caps. Those who have not heard a Lamm LL2 Deluxe with these modifictions are missing out on an extreme preamp at its best. Check out my system and you will see what it takes to make a great system much greater by ten fold.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1197684391&read&3&4&
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