TAD-150 Signature - from Paul at
http://www.2baudio.com
Great tube Pre-Amp that will compete with amp several times its price.
http://www.2baudio.com
Great tube Pre-Amp that will compete with amp several times its price.
Tube preamp for a Bel Canto eVo2 Gen II
Right,
Don’t flame me for the mix & match system, I’m learning and growing as fast as I can. :-) I’m looking for a preamp (probably tube?) to go with a Bel Canto eVo2 Gen II. I’m thinking a “sweeter” tube preamp to balance out the potentially “dry” Bel Canto. Rest of the system is as follows. Musical Fidelity A3.2CD player, Spendor S9's.
Budget dictates $1000 - 1500 used for the preamp. Audio Mirror has some aesthetically pleasing preamps for very decent prices but I haven’t heard any in person. Other suggestions? Am I worrying too much about the eVo’s being “dry”?
Holding my breath until you reply,
Noexit Esq.
Don’t flame me for the mix & match system, I’m learning and growing as fast as I can. :-) I’m looking for a preamp (probably tube?) to go with a Bel Canto eVo2 Gen II. I’m thinking a “sweeter” tube preamp to balance out the potentially “dry” Bel Canto. Rest of the system is as follows. Musical Fidelity A3.2CD player, Spendor S9's.
Budget dictates $1000 - 1500 used for the preamp. Audio Mirror has some aesthetically pleasing preamps for very decent prices but I haven’t heard any in person. Other suggestions? Am I worrying too much about the eVo’s being “dry”?
Holding my breath until you reply,
Noexit Esq.
9 responses Add your response
Yikes Newbie & Jafox, much ado about nothing IMHO. I’m new to “high-fi” and if you preview my one and only other post you’ll see the roots to my question. I’m 99% sure I’m buying a Bel Canto amp and I’ll be using my Creek 5350R as a “preamp” for the time being and didn’t want to have the system sound like mush in the interim. Perhaps you should wait until that morning coffee before you post. :-) Proud to have rode the short bus AND learned that arguing in a message board is like winning a gold medal in the special olympics ....... Noexit Esq. |
The Bel Canto Evo 2, Gen II is neutral and accurate. It's also fast and detailed. I would not call it a dry amp. I believe that Bel Canto used to recommend a minumim of a 10:1 ratio between the input impedance of the power amp and the output impedance of the preamp. You might want to check with them to be sure my numbers are correct and to avoid possible impedance mismatch problems. I use a solid state preamp in my system, so I'll leave the tube recommendations to those with experience in that area. Rick |
I have tested a handful of tube pre's on my SS setup and found the Manley Shrimp to match the best.Mind you my amps are not as dry as your BelCanto but mine are still on the bright side. This pre seems to be very forgiving within a system... And as a new unit it only retails for around $1800.00 new.. Matching is going to be a big problem!! for some pre's are a better match with their own seperates..Not the case with the Manley Shrimp. |
I would recommend a Grace Design m902 (or if you can find a model 901 used) headphone amp/pre-amp. While both are SS, they are among the smoothest, fullest, clearest, "musical" sounding pieces of gear that I have heard. Definitely worth looking into. http://www.gracedesign.com/ |
There is a CJ PF-R preamp for sale on Audiogon. It is SS but you would never know it by the sweetness and clarity of its sound. I have had one for years and although I moved it from main system to bedroom system, I would never give it up. It would be a nice counterbalance to a "dry" - sounding amp. Neal |