Although a bit long in the tooth, this BAT VK-3iX seems to tick all your boxes: BAT VK-3iX $1,790 There are lots of options for (relatively) low cost upgrades e.g. tube rolling and a SIX-PAK capacitor option (the same ones found in the more expensive VK-51SE). Don't let age fool you. I'm still running a pair of Soundcraftsmen PM-860 monoblocks that were built in 1978 that sound tremendous. |
If you are interested in the Parasound JC2-BP, I have one for sale on USAM - less than two years old and in excellent condition. I'm the original owner. |
cary slp 98p they are on sale right now for a little over 2k from Cary Direct had mine for years now and it's a great preamp |
I would get a used EAR 864 full function preamp ($2000-$2500) or the upgraded ones EAR 868P around $5000 (more limited functionality than) the EAR 912 (outstanding phono section) at $7500-8500. Or buy the 868L for $1000-$1500 less and add a phono preamp. They will last decades. |
Don't be too quick to rule out building one from a kit. www.bottlehead.com has easy to build kits which outperform preamps costing thousands. |
Get the Parasound . I have a Rogue RP-1, and I wouldn’t recommend it for you . After upgrading to Telefunken medical grade 12AU7’s , isolation footers and a $250 power cord, it sounds good as a single ended line stage tube pre with my Schitt Yiggy DAC . But the headphone section is crap. I have a modded Thorens with a Grado cartridge, and I am not pleased with the phono stage , its noisy and needs a bit more gain . So if you take the cost of the RP-1 and add $600 then how does the Parasound look ? In your system I’d get a quiet SS pre . Regards , Mike B. |
Audio Research builds one of the best preamps. |
|
|
|
Wyred-4-Sound STP-SE or Benchmark HPA4. Both use similar design philosophy. Can't go wrong with either. |
Quicksilver if you want tubes. In your price range hand built in the USA. Excellent preamp. |
W4S STP SE good choice should operate in passive mode for most listening with your existing amp. |
I would certainly recommend my pre-amps, except for one detail: I have only ever seen 4 for sale, ever, and I bought two and sold one of those. The other one was on a Canadian site. So it does not matter. Good Luck. I recommend you listen and buy what you like to hear. You are on a site with extremely prejudiced listeners, who often taut what they own to make themselves fell better. Many are going deaf from age. Visit a city with dealers. They still exist. To save money, if necessary, buy used, but listen first, somewhere.
|
Can pick up a used Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 linestage for $1000+/-. No remote but don't be a spud, get up and adjust the volume, lol. Change the single tube in the SFL-1 to the highest quality 12AT7 you can afford (I'm running a Genelex Gold Lion) and sit back and hear your amp for what it has to offer. I run mine with a Cary, 808R tuber and it's just fabulous match with my Equation, 7s... I also use it in a streaming setup but would not hesitate to grab a Lounge Audio or Graham Slee phono pre to complete the package in an analog system |
|
+1 Linear Tube Audio MICROZOTL. Seems you only need the 1 input. Tube musicality with SS detail. Get the NOS tube.
Remote is also nice. |
OP
Well then... trust your ears...
(referring to your sound experience when your friend brought over JC2)
|
Quicksilver Line Stage with a couple very nice NOS tubes has been lovely paired with other tube amps as well as solid-state |
Schiit Freya + Yes now you’ve got it all. Passive or tube or solid state, single ended or balanced. with remote, I recommend these a lot. Cheers George |
|
|
Got it now, that you are trying to use your current XLR cables...
However, using "balanced" not only adds gain that you do not seem to require, but it also limits your choices within the stated budget.
I generally prefer active preamplifiers as well.
DeKay
|
@dekay
good question... I bought a cheap passive from Amazon that was xlr to try. It was the Nobsound Mini Fully-Balanced/Single-Ended Passive Preamp.
The preamp doesn’t sound bad but a friend of mine brought over a Parasound C1 to try. We put it in direct/analog mode and connected via xlr. The sound difference was incredible with the biggest change in the wide soundstage.
This has what started the path to invest in a good preamp. |
|
"A couple of extra criteria is the preamp needs to have remote and preferred balanced."
Why "balanced" unless you intend on running running LONG IC cables (can't imagine you have been with the current passive)?
Just curious.
DeKay
|
vette5451 OP
@georgehifi
Thanks for the links and suggestions for passive.
Yes, when you have 4v output from the phono stage, and your amp only needs 1v for full output, it's a no brainer. Any active preamp with even more gain that goes between is a backwards step in
sound quality, unless you "want" to hear more noise, distortion and coloration.
Nelson Pass,
“We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us
need or want. At least 10 db more.
Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around
9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a
subsequent gain stage can make it back up.
Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an
input selector and a volume control.
What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these
simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors –
just musical perfection.
And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks
the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being
serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the
volume control up compared to an active preamp.”
Cheers George
|
Doesn't Van Alstine have some items the OP might look into? The FET/valve CFR is $2099 w/o phono. Seems worth a look. I found a C-J PV-11 in good working order and my preamp search is over. |
i love tube active preamps. they add life like dynamics, have a more refined sound with larger sound stage and offer the option to customize with tube changing. i agree with this - conrad johnson, audio research, vac etc have not been stealing deaf peoples' money for the last 40 years... |
i love tube active preamps. they add life like dynamics, have a more refined sound with larger sound stage and offer the option to customize with tube changing.
i have had the rogue audio rh5 headphone amp linestage and the sound is excellent, crystal clear with hard driving attack and energy.
recently upgraded to the rp7 and the rh5 does not lose much at half the price.
the rh5 is a stellar bargain at $2500 retail. |
I was lucky to find a used Einstein The tube mk2 for less than 40 percent of the list price in an audio forum, here in Norway. I mostly agree with the glowing review by Fremer in Stereophile - this preamp sounds like nothing, like a good preamp should do. It does have some sound of its own, though, which may fit in very well in your case. Both, the tube part of the amplification, and the hefty s-state power supplies. Delicate and powerful.
|
@georgehifi
Thanks for the links and suggestions for passive. |
I have discovered preamp's add value by the end of the seventies until the end of the eighties in listening Conrad johnson vs audioresearch gears..
A local distributor and personal friend organised listening sessions outside opening hours of the store later in the evening...
They teamed up CJ and AR afficionados...
evey one was coming with its own unit and their vinyls...(no digital technologie at this time.except the 80 ties.)
you can imagine Audioreserch SP 6 SP6 A B C..... Conrad Jonhson pvé,premier two,premier three and so on..
This glorious "golden age" allowed to understand the subjective difference from a gear to another without any commercial consideration and to set up a real sound subjective culture for the audiophile involved in..
I have a Conrad Jjonhson collector PV 10A,PV8and PV9A designed from 1989 to 1992
all are fitted with phono step..
I am very fond of the subjective sound balance of music rythm, soundstage, aeration and the weight of the note that gives music matters ,you gorget electronic presence avoiding "hyper definition"...
This brand reach to save their product philosophie for years in keeping a consistant approach between vintage and current range of preamp's ....
"it just sound right!"
Raymond
|
|
The sound system was essential to me and I used Parasound JC2 it produced very good sound, when I played geometry dash I needed it to sound so good. |
|
I use a Parasound JC2 in my system, and am very happy with sound. It is paired with a modded A21. Replaced stock fuses with HiFi Tuning Supreme, which is a tweak you might consider. Biggest bang was from replacing fuse at back, but replacing fuses in rails produced improvements also.
|
Why no mention of Prima Luna? What is the opinion on Prima Luna? Just asking. |
I have the parasound and am quite satisfied, however their customer support is quite poor. Ihave had to find work around for my questions. I was considering on my short list their new jc1 + monoblocks, but due to their support issues have decided on other products |
Don Sachs preamp and the Supratek preamps are excellent. I have them both and they sound phenomenal with my JC1 monoblocks and also with my tube Canary monoblocks. The best way I can describe the Supratek sound is clean, clear and wide open.... |
I really like my audio refinement separates. The Pre-5 is a great preamp but has a lot of gain. |
You completely missed the point sunshine, but it doesn't surprise me. The person you put on blast this morning wasn't promoting his product either,. He was discussing a class of product. Kind of like what you are doing here. That didn't stop you from saying that he was. Product protection mode is what you always call it, though he never mentions his own product. The shoe fits on your foot too sunshine. What a hypocrite. |
I love the Wyred STP-SE pre. Dead quiet, flexible, balanced, remote and punches above its price. A gently used unit is quite a good bargain. edit: wow, I just looked and E.J. is selling the STP SE at a well reduced price. That is a deal for new considering I paid just less for slightly used. https://wyred4sound.com/products/pre-amps/stp-se |
Does the Goldpoint offer remote volume.? The website didn’t promote this option? |
Interesting recommendations I would have never considered and that was the whole point.
A couple of extra criteria is the preamp needs to have remote and preferred balanced.
|
You really have no idea do you sunshine.
There is 6v from the phono stage at 50ohms output impedance. The power amp only needs 1v for full output, try to wrap you head around it if you can!
I only recommend and link to other passives (not mine) when the impedance matches are fine, and there’s absolutely no extra gain needed from an expensive active preamp. Go learn some, and try to understand little more.
|
Interestingly enough, @georgehifi just blasted another poster today for making positive comments on Class-D amplification. That poster is in the process of developing a Class-D amp and George hammers him for promoting a product that he will eventually be selling. In the very same day, as he does often, he promotes the virtues of passive pre-amps. He has sold passives himself for years. He blatantly, and often promotes product categories that he sells in this forum. Apparently it is A-ok for georgie to break his own unwritten rule. |
Having repaired some of the preamps above I would recommend two preamps for you after you send them to me for upgrades:
Counterpoint - SA-1000, SA-2000, SA-3000
DeHavilland - Don't recall the model.
Upgrades would include Nichicon capacitors, Audio Note, Shinkoh, Amtrans resistors, AC filter choke, V-Capacitors, tube sockets, RCA jacks, etc. None of the preamps recommended above with have these parts inside. Depending on your budget, I can gut the internals and make the preamp point-to-point wired.
Happy Listening. |
vette5451
In the market for a new pre-amp and looking for suggestions. I know this is very subjective to one’s tonal qualities so let’s consider all options in the $2k range. You are using a Elac Alchemy PPA-2 phono stage with 66db of gain, over 6.0V output at 50ohms output impedance!! into an amp A21 that only needs 1v for full wattage output clipping. YOU DON"T NEED AN ACTIVE PREAMP (with even more gain to waste money on.) All you need a a passive preamp Balanced or SE, for even better sound, maybe with input selection if you have other sources. SE https://www.goldpt.com/sa1.htmlhttps://www.goldpt.com/sa2.htmlBAL https://www.goldpt.com/sa1x.htmlhttps://www.goldpt.com/sa2x.htmlCheers George |
|
