I am in the market for a 2-ch preamp to go with my power amp, and am looking for some recomendations. Will prob go used, as I think I can get more value for my money. I would like to limit the sale price @ $4k.
no problems, your experiences are always relevant and important to share
dan has obviously been through an evolution over the years, i agree his voicing has changed some, and is not as consistent as some other makers across products and time, but i have always felt he fundamentally strives for an extended, fairly linear (not rolled off) sound, with good speed on transients, and tube goodness for expanded soundstaging and texture of vocals
other thing i would say is, similar to the other units that allow it (arc being the major exception) tube rolling significantly alters tonal balance and noise floor
Sorry, @jjss49 but I disagree. As much as I like and admire Dan Wright I have owned both his LS100 and LS36.5. Neither came close to the performance of the Herron. The performance gap was not entirely attributable to personal preference or system dependency--the Herron is objectively much quieter, more resolving and reliable than either of the Modwright units. To be fair, the Herron also costs a lot more money. Even within the Modwright units there are big differences--the LS100 is a ton warmer and more "tube" sounding than the 36.5, which is quite lean (almost sterile) in presentation.
Save your money. Buy a very affordable Inspire preamp. Hand wired, made in America. By a preamp and amp genius, Dennis Had. Probably $1400 used. Tubes, is where it’s at.
don’t believe that’s true. Last I looked, Don uses a slew of key premium parts that if used in the SP14 would make their prices much more comparable. Making it sound like the Sachs pre just has a prettier cabinet is inaccurate and sells it way short
I've read on more than one forum that the sp14 is based on John Broski's aikido preamp, if that's true one could say the sp14 is just a dressed up aikido.
@riffwraith,
Congratulations on the new acquisition! You will be amazed by this preamp. I remember discussing with @1markr and @chilehed on this preamp. You can see this preamp in our systems. I am thrilled and amazed to this day every time I play music on my system. The best part is you can "tune" it to your liking by changing the tunes. Would love to hear from you once you get it in your system. Do keep us posted!
So, I wound up buying a Backert Labs Rhumba Extreme 1.2 - picked it up for 3k. Should be arriving next week... very excited. Thanks for the input everyone!
Perhaps a better way to go would be to tell us what you have had for a pre and what you like/dislike or are searching for??
what is the one detail that you eoyld like to hear from a new pre? Soundstage, liveliness, more cow bell, mid bass? We might be able to help with the right I do. I have owned a dozen tubed and SS pres in the last 10 years and need your help to make a recommendation.
Thank you for all of the great suggestions! I had no idea that there would be so many good options.
So, this morning I decided to go with a brand new decware ZTPRE. I called this morning, to see what the lead time is - four months. Holy holy!
I now have my eye on a previously recommended Rotel RC-1570. Brad new, it’s 1k, as oppposed to 3k for the ZTPRE. I know that price does not dictate sound quality, but I am also of the mindset that you get what you pay for.
Then I found this:
https://jsqt.smugmug.com/JSQT-Sales/n-JRDXgd/
but I cant seem to find these people to see if the Rumba is still avail.
If you mainly use digital audio, I’d recommend going with a DAC/Preamp rather than separate units. If it’s just attenuation you are after get a passive e.g. Wavac att-s. Alternatively get a Bakoon amp and use the built-in attenuation.
I don’t believe that’s true. Last I looked, Don uses a slew of key premium parts that if used in the SP14 would make their prices much more comparable. Making it sound like the Sachs pre just has a prettier cabinet is inaccurate and sells it way short IMO.
The Don Sachs preamp is just a dressed up VTA SP14. Much prettier and about $1000 more. The Don Sachs model will run you about $2500 and the VTA SP14 comes in at about $1500. You can save $500 by building as a kit. You won't find a better preamp at any price.
But if you're interested in something very cool in a classic piece, look for a Fisher 400 CX-2. This was Fisher's very worthy competitor to the Mac C22 and Marantz 7. But they never sustained the rep, so today on the used market, sell for less than either the Mac or Marantz tube preamps. But they are gorgeous!
The Fisher 400 CX-2 was the best preamp they ever made and was typically only found in the homes of the very wealthy and celebrities. This piece is special.
Another vote for the Don Sachs Audio 6SN7 line stage pre. Just a spectacular performer that you must hear to appreciate. Tube warmth without sacrificing any detail or clarity.
Having had over 25 preamps in the last three decades, my current favorite full function preamp is the Doge 8 Clarity. The line stage is right at home with my Aesthetix IO signature Phono stage and Coincident SET amplifiers. Incredible price performance. Read “preamp shootout” parts 1 and 2 for info. Focused more on phono stages, but a good primer for some line stage comparisons as well.
My vote is for Audio Research. Watch the market and you can easily resell the piece if you buy smart. For your budget you can get a REF 3 that is still well respected as an excellent preamp.
I have a B&K REF5 S2 and replaced it with an ARC LS3B which completely opened up my sound. Recently I moved to the ARC LS26 which made another nice advancement in my system.
Preamps are probably the easiest component to deal with in the used market as they are mostly not too bulky nor heavy. Whether it is an ARC component or any of the others, follow the same strategy to buy smart....enjoy it in your system for a while and decide if it has what you seek. If not resell and try again!
Atma-sphere MP3 or MP1 if your budget can hit that.
World class and never boring. I used to own VAC whilst i like them i still consider the Atma a step or two above.
VAC is warm but kinda gets boring its not as dynamic as Atma and over time you get to realise the warmth is sacrificed for other much-needed attributes one needs to get a musical setup
I will provide two recommendations based on my own personal experience: Backert Rhumba - if you are looking for a very fast, neutral sound, with a holographic soundstage, super low output impedance Aric Audio Special 6SN7 - if you want a fuller, more rounded sound (including rounder bass), also with a huge atmospheric, holographic soundstage. Love both, easy to live with either, and match well with SS and tubes amps. Customizable sound based on the tubes of your choosing / both are tube rolling pleasures!
I traded in my LTA preamp for Pass XP-20 and haven’t looked back. The Pass has much better body, spatial separation, and detail with significantly lower self-noise IMHO.
Would help greatly if you’d share what aspects of sound reproduction are most important and attractive to you and what specifically you’d like to improve upon, otherwise you’re just going to get a wide range of personal favorites that may or may not match with your own sonic tastes and priorities.
+1 on Don Sachs preamp, this is an outstanding preamp and can compete with or even better than other more expensive preamps. I bought the LTA preamp and returned it after one week. It has a nice clarity but there’s no warmth that you get from a tube preamp or even my solid state Jeff Rowland preamp.
If you want to blend in tubes look at the Rogue RP-5 $3.5k new and see if the numbers match up with what you need. If you need balanced then look at the RP-7 used . YOu might catch people moving off the 7 up to the 9. Then you can start rolling tubes which is fun.
I’ve never been happier (I’m 72), terrific tuner, wonderful pre-amp and two MM Phono inputs. I now have TT with two tonearms, that turned out to be a great feature.
Happens to be two for sale here,
this one of the best ones I have ever seen (I don’t know the member, it just came up on hifishark)
the glass face can be replaced, or re-painted, it's just black paint on the back, I broke/replaced mine $45. Seller online sells new glass already painted around $90.
patrickdowns4 and others of LTA/ Linear Tube Audio praise are absolutely correct. I bought a LTA MicroZotl pre; gave it a shot, played with the tube configuration and decided it beats or as good as my $13,000 Conrad Johnson GAT pre. MicroZotl comes with a built in Headphone amp as well as being an amazing pre with a super volume control; remote is easy to learn in my opinion; its an Apple Remote. Try one out for free for 30 days; call them. https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/tradein-demo-bstock/microzotl-preamplifier-b-stock-case https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/ 301-448-1534
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