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What is a good amp to pair with Hovland HP-100

Greetings all,

I'm starting to do research for a system upgrade and am pretty sure I want to check out the Hovland HP-100 preamp based on its excellent reviews. I would enjoy any suggestions or experience members may have with amplifiers (tube or solid in the same approximate price range) that they feel are a good match. I'm currently using a Unison Research Unico, so this will be a huge step up in performance for me. My turntables are Oracle Alexandria and Kenwood L-07D, speakers are Vandersteen 2ce (and will likely be upgraded as well).

I look forward to your opinions!

Regards,

rickk
rickk
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
FWIW, the Proacs are known to sound best with tubes, at most of the Response series. I've heard them sound nice with VTL, Manley and ARC. Manleys are my personal fav or those 3.

If you are into vinyl, I'd search archives before assuming that the Hovland's phono stage will meet your needs, particularly if you are into LOMC cartridges. Cheers,
Spencer
agaffer
256 posts
 
I have a Hovland HP-100 and have tried it with the Radia, Theta Dreadnaught,
Audio Research VT 100, and McIntosh 750. Personally, I liked it best with both the Audio Research and the McIntosh.
I use a Lyra Titan cartridge, by the way, and the phono stage is fine. No problem with MC cartridges. I did change the phono tubes to RAM super quiet tubes.
rickk OP
15 posts
 
Well, to update, I passed on the Hovland for the reasons above. I really do think it's the best preamp I've heard but I also agree that it is wiser (at such prices) not to start from the preamp. I will start my search anew and hopefully have the opportunity to incorporate this beautiful machine into a system at some point. Thanks for the input!

Best,

Rickk
keithr
1,306 posts
 
Hovland works well with Krell, believe it or not.
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