Lightspeed Attenuator - Best Preamp Ever?

You must order directly from the maker in Australia. A google search will help you find him. I get the feeling he is an individual making a few of these and he pursued this without the idea of starting a real business, but word-of-mouth has proabably driven more business than he expected, so I have no idea how long it takes form him to make and deliver, especially after Sam Telligs review which essentially reached the entire North American audiophile community. He does have a minimalist website.

Where are they available?

You may or may not like it better than your unit, we all know that we personally gravitate to what we want, what we like, and what anybody else says doesn't really matter, IF we can trust our own ears and preferences, all I am saying about this preamp (semantics aside, I don't need a source selcetor) this thing is special in away that the other passives I have tried have not been able to match, and obviously has gone up against some pretty renowned tube preamps where at least some folks have concluded that it is preferable. So all I am saying is that as we seek the best sound avaialable, this $450 peramp (thing) is worth a try, even if at the end of the day you decide to stick with your active (tube?) preamps.

Maybe George HiFi will be able to figure out a trial scheme that can make sense to him, though he may already may be limited to how many he can make per month so I may be a moot suggestion. While I will use the Atma-Atma combo with balanced cabling, my other systems combos are going passive with the Lightspeed.

Love to put it up against my unit, but no trial.

Interesting posts however.

I'm with Pubul57 on this one.

The Lightspeed has been provoking debate since its inception. Here in Australia, it has had a long gestation period, with some loving it and others the opposite. Similar to what happened over on Audio Asylum I recall. As a 5 year user of one, my experience has been one of many ups and downs through a multitude of systems and components. I now realise many of the downs have been brought about by my own attempts to best it. After all, how could a tiny little $500 black box compete with others costing in the thousands ? Plus it's made in Australia and we all know the best audio equipment comes from overseas - right ?

Those who know me will be aware I have gone through a multitude of gear in the last 5 years. Mainly due to selling on eBay for others with much deeper pockets than I, allowing me the chance to experiment endlessly.

I have directly compared the Lightspeed to the following; (excuse me if I get the model designations wrong )

1. Audio Research SP11, SP10 LS3, LS8, LS2
2. CAT Signature
3. Supratek Chardonnay, Micrex M1.
4. Mark Levinson 380S
5. NuForce P8
6. Musical Fidelity SP3
8. Various Volume Controls in the many CD Players I have used.
9. 3 or 4 home brew preamps, both valve and SS.
10. Gryphon MK II
11. Placette TVC

(Thats about all I can recall for now, but I'm sure theres more)

The most recent comparison was with an Australian designed and made ME25 Preamplifier into a pair of EL34 Monoblocks, into my JBL 4350's. Once the impedances were matched to allow the Lightspeed to operate correctly ( along with 1m interconnect of course), there was no contest. The Lightspeed was cleaner, more transparent, better soundstage and dynamics etc etc etc. Needless to say, the ME was moved on. There was no loss of bass response, or any of the common downsides of Passive Control.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is this; Whilst the Lightspeed can be compared to all the above by inserting it into a system already optimized for another preamplifier, to get it to really shine, the system MUST be optimized for Lightspeed use. Often the Lightspeed may sound "brittle: or "shrill" when first used, until the impedances are matched correctly. When I did this, the Lightspeed COMPREHENSIVELY beat out all the above.

This system matching is the difference between the Lightspeed sounding just "good" vs sounding incredible. I have heard it sound pretty good driving 3m plus interconnects, and have done it myself on occasion. But, I have always had large gains when the system is configured properly to suit it.

IMO, using buffers defeats the purpose of having the Lightspeed, altough I'm happy to be proved wrong. I'd rather spend the cost of the buffer in changing the amplifier impedance to suit the Lightspeed. In some cases, in my experience, this has been less that 20 minutes work !

And lastly no, I do not have a financial interest in Lightspeed production and while I do know George well, I'm not into B.S'ing others based solely on that.

IMHO, for the cost, its an absolute no-brainer ........

Cheers

Scott

I hope this unit is used by someone at RMAF so everyone can actually hear it and decide for themselves if it provides the type of sound they can be happy with.

I'm bringing mine there this year and hope to convince a few people to plug it into their systems for some A/B comparisons. That's if they're brave enough.

I too have had what I consider to be some fine preamps by Cary, TRL, Joule, and Berning. The Lightspeed bested them all. Although there is no trial period I can't believe anyone who owns a $5000+ preamp can't spring for this unit to give it a listen. Even if you had to take a loss on resale you could still recoup at least 50%.

While I too am disappointed a balanced version is not available, some people have built them and George will provide you a schematic upon request. You could also email me and I'll send you a copy.

It's not a preamp, it's a volume control. Preamps have multiple inputs. Some even have balance controls, tape outs, tone controls, phase reversal and volume mute, but at a minimum a preamp lets you select sources.

Grannhyring, just to give you some context, my view of the Lightspeed is as a current and former owner of several highly regarded tube amps from Lamm,ARC.Joule, CAT, and Atma-sphere. Not that it proves anything, but I would not like this thing if it was in the least bit small, sterile and thin relative to anything. If the tube pres I have owned, and still own, are not the very best, they are close. The fact that this thing is $450 can hurt it for those use to 10K preamps.

Alas, it is not for everyone with its one single-ended, single input, but this thing does not sound like any of the stereotypes of passives, it has the signature of clean water, letting the source connect to the amp with minimal interference, without loss of any apparent bandwidth, or dynamics. It is not a bandaid preamp that will fix whatever isn't quite right or to once's taste in the rest of the system. A great source with a great amp and speakers are where this preamp will work best, even in the company of $$$$ components before it or after it. My feeling has always been that the preamp should be as neutral as possible with the coloration one prefers coming elsewhere in the system - making it more universally easier to use in many different system contexts.

I hope this unit is used by someone at RMAF so everyone can actually hear it and decide for themselves if it provides the type of sound they can be happy with. It would be nice if there were a 30-day trial, but I'm not sure if the low price and the long-distance transportation would make that viable - it is certainly light enough to ship around.

It's not balanced. It's not for me.

Signed: The Nonvocal Majority.

Grannyring NOT this one.

Trial period?

I will chime in. First my sysyem has been built to be passive friendly. I have had the Bent Tap, Placette, Silverstone magnetic passive to name a few.I purchased the Lightspeed that is advertised here on Audiogon. I agree with both Pubul57 and Clio09 the Lightspeed is truly special. It is the only passive that I have owned that outshines all other preamps passive, solid state or tubed that have graced my system.

Money back trial? These passives have always disappointed me compared to a great active tube preamp. They tend to sound small, sterile and thin relative to a great tube active unit.

I have not heard this one, but have heard other highly touted ones.

You know how I feel.

Even with the Atma-Sphere S-30 I own where the sensitivity rating is nearly 3V this unit performs exceptionally well. I have used it with VAC Auricle Musicblocs and a Music Reference RM-10 as well. In each case its performance is consistent. I don't even have my Slagle Autoformer box in the system anymore.

The sound from the Lightspeed flies in the face of all the negative attributes that you hear people comment on regarding passive preamps. I am convinced anyone predisposed to active preamps that hears the Lightspeed in their system (and assuming proper system matching) will experience a reality check. At its price point there is not much to lose in trying one. I've dumped $450 (and much more) on interconnect cables that never came close to the price to performance value the Lightspeed provides.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program.

I meant to say 50kohm input impedance or higher for the amp, not 5kohm - that would not work at all:)