Line Stage Preamps that blew you away $2500 Edition

In that range you could check out Hattor, “The BIG” which sounds really good and can do just about anything a preamp should do functionally.

• choice of passive or active operation, switchable by remote on the fly
• active stage offers choice of +3, 6, or 9 dB gain, also switchable by remote
• active stage via choice of op amps, including the well regarded NewClassD dual ultimate edition
• 64-step discrete resistor dual mono volume controls
• full-service remote
• choice of resistors between Vishay SMD, Takman REX carbon or REY metal film, or Amtrans AMRG carbon film
• choice of case color
• Big, easy to read, dimmable display
• Balanced and single-ended ins and outs
• outboard linear power supply
• Home Theatre input available

List price is exactly $2,500 with the top options - XLR, AMRG resistors, and the NewClassD active stage. See it here.

@gochurchgo

So tell me how it sounds. Super interested.

In short, it sounds great. Over a period of years, I went through many tubed and solid state preamps and finally ended up with a custom, unity-gain, McCormack TLC-1 that was modified by Steve McCormack at SMc audio about 5 years ago. Steve has told me "your preamp sounds very close to my VRE-1." It should, since it uses the exact same power supply, same Lundahl transformers, and same Shallco volume control as his first version VRE-1.

The ONLY shortcoming of my modified preamp is the absence of a remote volume control and display. Having a remote and display has become more important to me in recent years so with Steve’s help, I took the volume control out of the circuit by replacing it on the board with a pair of Audio Note silver tantalum resistors so I could use the preamp as a buffer in conjunction with a passive unit that has a remote and display.

That is how I became acquainted with Arek Kallas of Khozmo and Hattor. I had tried multiple passives and determined I liked the sound of the resistor units better than the transformer-based units. Khozmo offers a very nice passive with a large display and full-function remote so last year I purchased a dual-mono, balanced passive unit (picture on my system page) to pair with my buffer/preamp. More recently, I have thought about trying his larger Hattor preamp that also offers the option of an internal active stage using a choice of op amps. The goal would be to simplify and to remove the separate buffer and extra interconnects. Last weekend I inquired about having Arek make one for me and then the same day I emailed him the very type of unit I was inquiring about (with the NewClassD Dual Ultimate discrete op amps) came up for sale at USAM, so I purchased it.

I received the unit on Friday and I am in the process of comparing the Hattor with my Khozmo/SMc preamp/buffer combination, and also comparing the sound of the Khozmo with the Hattor, when both are used as a passive with the SMc buffer. I had chosen the Takman REY metal film resistors for my Khozmo passive unit and the Hatter preamp has the more expensive Amtrans AMRG carbon film resistors.

So far, my observations are that the Hattor with +3dB gain (through the internal op amps) sounds very close to the Hattor run passively through the much more expensive SMc buffer/preamp unit. I also believe that in my system, the Amtrans AMRG carbon film resistors sound slightly better than the Takman REY metal film resistors. Bottom line, if you want a full-function, solid state unit with remote and display, it may be hard to do better than the Khozmo for $2,500.

@gochurchgo

To your ears does the Hattie achieve that “band/artist in your room” sense of presence? Do you feel the sound has adequate weight and dimension?

To your first question, IME, no preamp can do that, and certainly not on its own without being but one piece in an otherwise really good system.

To your “adequate weight and dimension” question, I would say that as a passive, both the Khozmo unit with the Takman REY resistors and the Hattor with the Amtrans AMRG carbon film resistors do very well at passing along what they are fed. My initial impressions are that the Takman REY resistors are a touch more revealing while the AMRG resistors are a touch more musical, or not quite as honest, and fall on the spectrum somewhere between carbon comp and metal film resistors. My opinion has always been that buffered or active preamps in most cases provide more weight and dimension than pure passives, which have usually sounded slightly thin when I have directly compared them to actives in my systems. Based on my listening so far, engaging the NewClassD op amp circuit on the Hattor (I have been using 3dB gain) adds the necessary weight, tonal density, and dimension that is similar to when I engage my SMc Audio unity gain buffer with a passive volume control. I am not convinced the sound through the Hathor’s op amp circuit is better than through my SMc buffer, but it may be close enough.

The Truth is not a passive preamp, it is an active preamp with no gain. 

I believe it uses an active buffer stage (one buffer on input and one on output) to provide high input impedance and low output impedance.  Unity gain is probably a more accurate way to describe it.  With today's source voltages, I doubt you would have any trouble driving typical amplifiers using today's sources with a unity gain device.  Also, it would be much better at handling the interconnect characteristics than a passive.  It does not have a remote control, display, or balanced connections.

@jjss49 - so true, and even adding one of the best implementations of a DAC volume control can change the sound of the DAC, as I learned when I owned both the Metrum Pavane (no VC) and their Adagio (basically the same DAC with VC)