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Hovland HP 200 vs. Cary SLP 05

Any thoughts on which preamp (Hovland HP 200 vs. Cary SLP 05) is more suitable for a system of Krell FPB 200c driving Dynaudio Contour S3.4's ? Previous pre was Krell KRC which was too neutral for me. I'm looking for more tube dimensionality and warmth. Both cost about the same 2nd hand I think and have balanced inputs and outputs which I need. The drawback with the Hovland is that the company is now defunct.
mikey8811

Showing 1 response by downunder

downunder
1,329 posts
 
I listened to the HP-200 a while back and it sounded good. Please be aware that the volume graduations are a joke and IMO not good enough for any high end pre amp. It was easy for one setting to be too low and the next too high.
The conrad johnson prem 16 was overall the better sounding pre amp in my system and its volume and balance control is SOTA.

The cary SLP98 is a killer little pre amp, have not heard the 05
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