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What qualities stand out in really good solid state preamps?

Recently I posted on the Herron HL-1, asking people what they thought, how it compared, etc. It's been sold and that's ok. The search continues. 

But it raises a question I'd like to ask folks:

What attributes do you look for in a good solid state preamp?

Some qualities — quietness, durability, seem pretty obvious.

But what other criteria do you use to differentiate between solid state preamps?

How can they differ and what matters to you?

Please let me know!

P.S. As I've looked around, I've begun to learn more about some of the legendary preamps — made by companies such as Threshold, Ayre, Bryston, Pass, Apt-Holman, and others. It's good to have these names as references, but it would be even more useful if I knew what these brands conveyed, sonically. I've played with the idea of getting a newer Schiit preamp and then I wonder -- what if there's a "classic" preamp out there, used? What would it deliver that was worth searching for?

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Showing 1 response by ddafoe

ddafoe
239 posts
 
  • tone - must be natural 
  • dynamic range - must be able to sound laid back and gentle but scale up to explosive forces fast, as fast as demanded by the recording 
  • low noise floor
  • Texture in the bass
  • warm and palpable mids
  • extended and sweet highs
  • nice, non-clicking silent volume control (want to be able to adjust volume without hearing any clicking or other artifacts)
  • must image well and create a realistic and colorful soundstage

These are the attributes are what I look for in an amp, except the clicking volume.

I have 2 great preamp volume controls and like the clicking one the best. Though a smooth heavy wheel volume control is luxurious.

 

This is a very nice list.  For my tastes, I will nitpick and slightly change 

  • Texture in the bass
  • warm and palpable mids

to just

  • Palpable Texture/Mass across the entire frequency spectrum; added warmth I can live without if I get the life like image and presentation.

I settled on the SimAudio 740P 8 years ago or so and that list is what I find it generally gives me compared to a handful of preamps I compared it with at the time and more importantly now when I constantly try different DACs as I swap them in and out of my system.   It's been the one constant in my system over the last 8 years as amp, speakers, and many DACs come and go.   

With so many good DACs having preamp functionality it is so easy now a days to compare what a preamp does well and not so well when you swap in a very good DAC direct to your amp.   I've yet to try a DAC direct (Bricasti M3 and Meitner MA3 are the two best I've tried direct) that beat it in a majority of that list.   I've found the noise floor and ultimate resolution usually slightly win with the DAC but the others generally go to my preamp to my ears.

The other attribute I really like in a preamp is the flexibility and quality of the volume control.   I've tried some preamps both tube and solid state where the range of volume you can make when you slightly turn the volume knob is just too large and I can't get the small changes I want.   I often try to adjust different songs with different recording levels to play at the same volume and it can be difficult if the volume control lacks small increments and doesn't explicitly show you a setting.   

The 740p for instance allows both 1dB down to 0.1dB volume changes depending on the range overall gain level and speed at which you change it, which makes levelling and adjusting to different songs a breeze!

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