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It’s time to upgrade my pre-amp

A strange thing happened to me at the start of Covid.  I could not bare to listen to most music other than jazz, primarily post 50‘s jazz.  I’m not asking for psychological assistance, but …this journey has led me down the never tiring, wonder filled analog road and that has caused my close family and friends to wonder.   

I built and own a Dynaco ST-70, Dynaco ST-35 and an Elekit TU-8600S with all of the upgrades including the Lindahl transformers.  The Elekit is my amp of choice. My thinking was, what better way to learn to listen to jazz than on the equipment it was designed to be listened to when originally recorded.

Today I am in need of a pre-amplifier that will support my current amplifiers, as well as, higher wattage tube and possibly digital amps in the future. For the time being, I’m sticking with highly efficient speakers.  As I mentioned in a previous post, my turntable is an Acoustic Signature Tornado Neo with a Hana ML cartridge and GoldNote PS10+PSU10 phono stage and separate power supply.  

My listening space is rather large 22 x 40 and my goal is to listen at low to moderate sound levels while maintaining clarity, detail and the experience of being inside the music space.

Thank you ahead of time.

goodnightpaul
solypsa's avatar
solypsa
462 posts
 

If you want a good, modestly priced, passive preamp look at Khozmo. Otherwise you could diy one. 

 

If you get an active preamp I would say at least 6 db gain, low output impedance and most of all sounds good :)

goodnightpaul OP
8 posts
 

I’ll check out the Khozmo and thanks for sharing the wisdom!

alwynlarryv
35 posts
 

A bout a year ago I bought a Topping A90, which was a replacement for a Conrad Johnson tube pre.  It resulted in a very obvious major improvement in sound.  The A 90's chief virtue is its astonishing low noise.  It is also very low "dinero," I think I paid about 600 sovereigns for it.

goodnightpaul OP
8 posts
 

Thanks alwynlarryv for the heads up on the Topping A90.  I'll check it out.

 

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 

I own and have heard the DACT Stepped Volume Control, I have also heard a range of Stepped Volume Controls along with a Khozmo.

When comparing Stepped Volume Controls, it was the introduction to the different take on a design being the Slagle AVC, that was what I preferred over the others.

Today within the Hi Fi Group, I have the Korg Nutube with a Khozmo Volume Control and a Prometheus TVC as a Korg Nutube Volume Control.

The use of these devices as a Volume Control with the Nutube, surpasses their performance as a standalone control by far.

The real attraction of the Korg Nutube B1 Pre-Amp' is that it really sings with a much cheaper VC, the added luxury can be considered as a later add on, as in the cases above.

My design will have the option to have the Slagle AVC attached, but as said, I have Bespoke produced VC's for my build version. 

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