ML No 383 to ML Nos 380S & 335

The 380S is one of the best line preamps ever made, I include tubes in that mix. I owned a lot and know for 4 years I have kept the same preamp and I even sent my 333 to Mark Levisnon for the upgrade to the 333.5 and that is also a first for me.

I have owned Krell, Audio Research, Rowland etc. When it gets this good and you gain experience, you know you have it right, now I just play with speaker cables, interconnetcts and power cords and I getting done with that also, good is good. Now I enjoy the music.

By the way some older systems using older equipment sound as good or if not better then a lot of the newer equipment today. Remember an ad is to get you to buy something new always looking for perfection, sorry it does not exsist, only in live music, but then you have the sound of the club, hall or arena....oh well!

Speakers have improved that to computer design and the blur between good solid state and tubes have become every close to where it is a matter of taste.

Use you ear, find a good dealer and go to live theater and listen and enjoy the music.

Upgrade your 39 to the 390s and I think you will get more of what you're looking for.

Koen,

A few thoughts. I got caught up in the audio hoop-la and recently sold my 383, I have yet to get replacements, I am in the process; but being w/o it for a few weeks, I really miss it! It is a great piece. Those you enquired about are definately not a step back though.

When I first was testing the 383 I was using a borrowed Van den Hul, long story short, it was either defective or didn't set well with the 383 and 508.24 combo, something to think about.

Also, the day before shipping the 383 off, I moved my speaker placement resulting in quite a change in the soundstage.

While I'm not familiar with your current gear I do own the 335. I spent years trying to tone down my Wilson 5.1's tendency to shall we say be ruthlessly revealing. I was always happy with the audiophile stuff like dynamics, imaging,etc., but the subtle things my old Quad's excelled at weren't there. The 335 replaced a VT100mk2 and my system took a step in the right direction. The ARC amp simply didn't have the power to make the Wilson's go. Then I replaced my very old SP 11mk2 with a CAT Ultimate. Wow! I now had it all, the dynamics and strings that really sing. I suspect that a tube pre amp will be a better fit with the 335 given your stated priorities. The CAT will get the job done. System synergy is always an issue so try before you buy.

I wouldn't bother. I very much doubt with your music preferences that the change would improve the sound. It would be better spent on an Audio Research or Conrad Johnson integrated amp (or VAC) as a second amp, with that type of music and those speakers, you would be happy with the sound!