levinson 26 to replace adcom 565

canefanmd,

At the risk of opening a big can of worms, it might be time to step back and look at the overall system.  But since no one has responded to you in 3 days, I'll take a crack at it.

The Adcom GFP-565 and GFA-555 are a solid starter system for getting into separates, but start throwing around names like Levinson and you are moving into a completely different league for the electronics.  I would look at replacing both pieces.  Good thing with the Heresy IV's is that they are very efficient, which gives you multiple avenues to go down, including low power tube equipment.  (Heresy's work very well with tube gear.)  There are a multitude of good integrated amps, both solidstate and tube, out there as well, which can help from a budgeting standpoint.

A few questions.  Are the Heresy's the originals or the newer Heritage line? If the originals, what shape are they in?  What are you using for a turntable and cartridge (MC or MM?)  What about digital input (streamer, CD, and DAC)?  Cabling?  And the big question, what is you budget?

- Jeff

the adcom amp and pre are older been recapped had a long time with La Scala speakers which i sold because I had to move in with my mom to take care of. I went 11 years without speakers. Then I got the Hersey's and just got the Rega Saturn MK 3. mI can spend around 3 k and I planned on something used but newer than what I have and wanted just the preamp. I have a technics sl1200 mk2 refurbished with Ortofon Blue MM 

canefanmd,

Without knowing anything about you or more of your history in this hobby, please forgive me if I come off being condescending.  I have been in this hobby since I was 15... and I'm 61 now... (I hate being old...)

With a $3K budget, you have a lot of choices.  Maybe even too many choices...  While I have nothing against your Adcom setup (I had the same two pieces years ago), but you can do a lot better these days at your budget number.  I would still recommend a integrated tube amp with the Hersey's, they would compliment each other nicely.  There are a lot of good choices in the under $2500 used range.  Look into PrimaLuna, Rogue Audio, BAT, and Conrad-Johnson.  Some will include a MM phono stage built in.  Stay with the EL34's or the KT-88 tubes.  With a 99dB sensitive speaker, you don't need to spend the extra $$ for increased power output of the KT-100's. -120's or -150's.   And if you want to really experiment, you could try an integrated with R300 tubes, like a Wellsenton R300 (which you can pick up for about $1200 used).

If you want to go solidstate, there are offerings from Parasound (HINT 6), Hegel (H120 or H190), PS Audio, Musical Fidelity, and even Schiit.  All would be a significant upgrade over the Adcom pieces.  And you can do it without breaking the bank.

If you need to go with a separate phono preamp,  there are plenty of solid units for under $600.  Parasound's zphono, Project, Vincent, and Rega are a few good names.  I wouldn't spend too much here until you upgrade the turntable and especially the cartridge.

And don't forget to put aside some of the budget for cables. You didn't specify what you are currently using.  Interconnects are going to cost between $250 and $350 a pair.  Speaker cables $400 to $600 for an 8 ft pair.  (... and cables DO MATTER!)  Don't worry about spending a lot on power cords right now.  Put the money to the electronics and interconnect/speaker cables.  If you feel you need to spend money on power cords, you might want to start with Pangea for now and upgrade later.

Do your research.  Read the reviews.  Search through the forums for specifics and ask questions. Scan through the for sale listings for ideas and don't rush it.  Build your system in your head first and work to that goal.  (And don't forget to be skeptical. I like to think that most people try to be honest and helpful.  ...and I'll leave it at that.)

Let me, and the rest of us, know how we can help you on the journey.

And don't forget why we all have been gone down this rabbit hole... is to Enjoy the Music.

- Jeff
 

@jeffbij offers good advice here, OP.

I am leaning towards Bryston BP17P and Levinson 26 preamp both have phono and ample rca outputs for my Nakamichi CR7A and my CD Player both are 3200 but has been refurbished by a Levinson trained tech. As far as amp I want a 532-H Levinson which might have to wait a couple months

ML26 is a legendary piece

As far as tube preamps go I know nothing about them I repeat nothing. If a tube goes bad then what I know about solid state. I listen to house and trance music from the 90's and hung around dj's and dabbled some too. so I am looking for another TT just like mine and already have a mixing board so I can have some fun

Nothing wrong with going big on the upgrades.  Me personnally, I'd go with the Levinson over the Bryston, especially if you are looking at the 532H amp.  Keep in mind that you may not hear much or any improvement until you upgrade the Adcom amp.  I would expect that the Ortofon Blue cartridge will show it's limitations very quickly after upgrading both the Preamp and Amp.

Good luck and let the music play!

what cartridge would you go to  a MC

"What cartridge would you go to..."?  That's a very good question.  And the answers are very, very subjective.

Part of the answer is going to be driven by what you mentioned about setting up two SL1200's and potentially dabbling in DJ/Mixing.  I'll be honest that I don't have any experience with the DJ side of things, but I would expect that the robustness of the cartridge is going to come into play.  I would think that a rugged, low compliance cartridge might be needed to handle the back queuing and higher than normal duty?  And maybe staying with a good MM design?  (Guys, feel free to chime in if I am wrong or off base here...)  If I'm right, then staying with the Ortofon 2M lineup would probably do well, with the 2M Black being the top of that line.  A Denon DL-103 moving coil might also work.

Now, if you are trying to pull out all you can from the SL1200 TT, then I like a moving coil over a moving magnet.  However, there are good choices in both MC and MM in the sub $1000 range.  However, part of what may drive your decision is what the pre-amp supports (if it has a built in phono) and at what point you are reaching the "limit" of the SL1200.  An Ortofon 2M Black is a decent MM.  You also have choices from Hana (which get many positive reviews), Mofi, the Ortofon Quintet MC series (I've listened to the Quintet Black S and I liked a lot), and Sumiko.  I seem to remember being told that the sub-$1000 Grado MC cartridges are not a good match for the SL1200, but I don't remember why.  

Now, if you are going to go down the rabbit hole and go for more, then you have a bigger decision to make.  The Technics SL1200's are solid, robust turntables with decent sonics.  They have been the TT of choice for DJ's and commercial heavy users for a reason.  But, you would probably start running into a point where the TT is starting to limit what you can get out of the cartridges at the $500 point?????  (Guys, correct me if you think I'm off base here.) If you want to step up from there, you're probably would be looking into spending $800 to $1500 used (??) on a TT and $600 to $1000 on a cartridge to make it worth while over the SL1200.

In addition, you also start getting into the capabilities of the phono pre, especially the ones built into preamps.  Then you start having to think about spending money on a separate phono-pre and interconnect cables.  And that is a whole other subject.  (Remember I said "going down the rabbit hole"?  Don't you just love this hobby.  LOL)

So, as I was typing this, I started to think about what I would do in your position...  You seem to have your heart set on the Levinson pre and 532H amp.  I don't think anyone would fault you there.  So, get those two pieces, hook them up with your existing CD, tape deck and TT and get used to their sound.  (It is going to sound much, much different than your existing Adcom setup.)  You might find that you need to upgrade the cabling.  While cabling DOES MATTER, but you don't need to go off the deep end and spend crazy money either.  (You never specified what cabling you currently have.)  At that point, then I would look at your cartridge.  Drop $700 to $1000 on a cartridge and live with it for a while. If you are happy, then excellent.  If you find things lacking, then upgrading the TT or adding a separate phono pre would be the next steps. 

As I said before, the key is, take your time.  Don't rush things.  Do your research and ask questions.  And Enjoy the Music.

Hope this helps.

Jeff 

thanks for all the advice to this point

would you purchase a Levinson 26 in which the Camacs were changed professionally to Rca's 

To put it simply... YES.  It is a common practice to swap them out for RCA's.  

Camac connections were a nice idea (i.e. the negative connection disconnects before the positive side when pulling the cable out), but it never caught on.  

@canefanmd yes to the Levinson, its a iconic preamp.