Tube Amp for Coda 8 Part 2

@yyzsantabarbara running all Mogami XLR's at present.

From my preamp to my CODA amp, I use low-cost Benchmark XLR (25 foot). The Benchmark HPA4 preamp definitely does not benefit from costly XLR. I think I tested the CODA with various XLR’s and went with the Benchmark XLR.

However, I do use expensive XLR from my DACs to the preamp.

@bugredmachine LOL! Thanks again!

KDS, you have a great amp so be sure to add a commensurate pre, IMO tubed, to match up with it. Keep that system at a high level and it will reward you. Then later we can talk cables (!).

@audioman58 +1 thx

@bugredmachine WOW!

@kds Great question. I have owned a few nice preamps in the last 10 years: 

Pass Labs XP12 - very nice unit. It was quiet and was everything you’d expect from Pass

Aric Audio Motherlode - sound was okay, but as a single ended unit is was too noisy. I ditched it fairly quickly. I should have ordered it as balanced.

Don Sachs Model 2 - very nice preamp but only came as pseudo balanced at the time. A little noisy and Don worked with me to upgrade some internal parts that helped but not enough for me to have a long term relationship with. Although I did build the Pomelle wood case for it as a project challenge and it turned out nice for the buyer I sold it to.

Audio Research 5SE - I reached as high as I could go at the time up the chain and grabbed this used preamp from Will Vincent after a tremendous amount of research, both here and elsewhere. Extremely happy with the sound of this preamp and the damn thing is robust in design, super quiet in balanced mode, and just disappears from view because it has no quirks in its operation. The most musical preamp I have ever owned and here to stay.

In days long gone I have owned these other preamps. Some with stellar records and out of print now, so to speak:

Sim Audio Celeste P3

Cary SLP98P

Sonic Euphoria

Promethius TVC

Pass Labs X1

Audio Mirror T61

Bel Canto DAC3 Pre

Modwright LS36.5

Dodd battery

Response Audio Bella

Electrocompaniet EC4.5

Lyngdorf TDAI2200

Mapletree 4ASE

BAT VK3i

Auditioned a Rogue Athena

TRL Dude

 

Easy the LTA  mk2/  preamp David Berning design they use all top name brand 

and the key a resistor ladder, relay volume attenuator ,which is the best.

many known companies using junk Alps volume pots which are 2 plastic wipers with s conductive spray on them ,you loose a lot of micro details , keep that in mind in your search 

@bugredmachine Interesting, thanks. I see you have many systems, nice! Any fav tube pre?

@kds 

I have an M1 and Coda 8. Going direct gets sort of dry and flat. So I always use a tubed preamp for musicality. 

@yyzsantabarbara thx

If you do not listen at very low volume, then the digital volume on the DAC should be good enough. The only DAC that had a volume control as good my best analogue preamp was the Lumin X1 DAC/Streamer with the Lindh volume control. That thing was almost perfect for volume but had some OCD gremlins that I am sure most would not have noticed or cared about.

Saying all that I always use a preamp, and all my DACs have no volume (a feature not a bug for me). I also listen at low volume on occasion, like tonight.

Another option is to get a Lumin U2 streamer (no DAC) and hook it up to your Bricasti DAC via AES, USB, etc. I am not a fan of Ethernet RJ45 streaming and the U2 will give you Fibre Optic streaming along with the Lindh volume control. You should be able to change the volume using the streamer if the Bricasti is set to fixed volume. I think I was able to also use my iPhone to adjust volume.

 

@fthompson251 - eloquently said and thank you for that!                                  After a TON of research, I may just stick with my digital attenuated DAC for my pre-amp.

I kinda went through this same situation last fall. But with different equipment. I sold my pre amp and amp and got a new Coda 5.5s. At that time I had a Denafrips Venus II DAC I bought new in 2021. That DAC fed my Legacy Audio Wavelet II which I then used as a preamp for volume control. The Wavelet also works as an outboard crossover/DSP room correction unit sending the mid/top to the Coda and the bass to the internal amps in my Legacy Audio Focus XD’s. I was considering getting a nice Tube pre amp such as the Aric Audio Motherload II or the new Spatial Audio Raven. I researched as much as I could to find at what level the Wavelet acts as a quality Pre amp and weather a pre amp prior to it would make a noticeable difference.  I was so close to getting the Raven but a conversation with a dealer convinced me to not do that with only 1 input needed (from the DAC) and add more stuff in the chain, another high cost interconnect and power cord. He convinced me to keep it simple and for go all that. So, I decided to instead get a better DAC and ended up with the new Denafrips Terminator 15th. I am happy with the sound I get. But I too still struggle with the curiosity if injecting a pre amp into the chain will make a significant difference too. It would be a very expensive experiment so I can’t really try it. Legacy presents all it products at shows using just the Wavelet even in their $80,000 top speaker system with good results so it can’t be too bad. So that’s my logic. Your DAC is very good and keeping the chain simple may bear quite good results but you have to satisfy yourself. Good luck on your journey.

@zlone Good point on the cables.  Vacuum tubes also make a big difference in a preamp like mine.  Put the wrong tubes in it and the performance is nowhere near its' potential. 

The answer is, ‘it depends’. I could not find too much on the implementation of the M1 digital volume control, but typically there is some risk of signal loss especially at lower volumes. Given the quality of your gear, it may take a bit of coin to find the answer and determine if it is worth it.
 

My previous amp was a Coda #8 and I tried at least five different preamps with it, each one was different. If you are even thinking of it, I would recommend you try one and see for yourself. It is part of the fun. Be aware that the right cables will make a big difference as you add component to the chain.

@kds my immediate thought was that a tube preamp would sound better, but you have a really nice dac, so I don't know.

I'm using a Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL preamp (level 2) with a Coda 8 amp.  It's much better than using my dac as a volume control, but your dac is much higher end than mine.  

If you can purchase a preamp with a return policy, I think I'd give it a try. 

@sls883 yes, and it sounds pretty good, but most say that using a pre-amp as a volume control should sound better. I want to try, but I don't want to break the bank to do so. Thanks,

Have you tried it? 

@sls883 Bricasti M1 SE II

What do you have for a dac?