- First, you must hear Ralph's amp with no active preamp to see if you like the sound or if color is needed.
- You can do this with the passive Schiit Sys for $50.
- If you like what you hear, you can buy a proper pre such as the Benchmark HPA & get the features that you need.
- If you are not happy with the sound, then you can start experimenting with active preamps that add second & third harmonic distortion.
Preamp suggestions for Atma-Sphere Class D Monoblocks
As I impatiently await the arrival of my Atma-Sphere class-d monos, I am writing to solicit opinions from experienced members on this site. Balanced inputs and outputs as well as the ability to connect a subwoofer are important. Headphone amp would be nice but not critical. Ditto for built-in phono. These are some of the tube and solid state units I am considering (not necessarily exhaustive):
- Atma-Sphere MP-3 mk3.3
- Cary SLP-05 (ultimate edition, if I can find a pristine used pair at a good price)
- Modwright LS-100
- PrimaLuna EVO 400
- Supratek - Champagne or 6SN7 Cabernet - I have no idea what the difference between these two are and the website is not helpful at all
- Anthem STR
- Benchmark LA-4/HPA-4
- Bryston BR-20 (or one of their purely analog variants - BP-19?) - I am hesitant to bundle streaming and dac into a preamp
- NAD M66
- ?
I will initially use the Bel Canto DAC2.8 as a dac and preamp with an Auralic Aries G1.1 as the streamer. My speakers are Totem Acoustic Forest Signatures, sub is a REL s/510 that I seldom use. I am unsure whether I can use the speaker level connections with the A-S monos (my current Bel Canto Ref510S class d amp has a chassis grounding screw to which I connect the REL’s ground wire).
Philosophically speaking, I have owned a wide range of equipment over the years - everything from "measurements above all" type gear (a full Benchmark stack), a few tube pieces (PrimaLuna, Tavish Design, Rogue), Class A amplification (Pass Labs XA-30.8) and a completely active Genelec 8351b based system. I seem to be slowly but surely gravitating towards subjectively great sounding gear, regardless of how they measure - the Totems are a case in point. However, I don’t want to find that I have moved too far in any one direction. At the end of the day, I value realism and emotional connection more than the ability to deconstruct the music but I don’t want to listen to a sloppy system that homogenizes everything. I’m sure this is all clear as mud! It is however, a reflection of where I am at the end of 28 years of being on this hamster wheel. All thoughts and suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.
