You may want to stick with Accuphase. The other two are relatively less warm than Accuphase. I heard them all and own a pair of Dynaudio.
Which pre should I choose?
I have an Accuphase A47 to drive my Dynaudio Coutour 1.3SE. I want to choose a pre-amp to match my power amp. and the speaker system. I prefer classical music. My room is not big. But I like warm and sound with thickness. Do you have good suggestion? How about Ayre's K1XE or Audio Research R2 MKII?
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faust168 The A47 has a very low 20k input impedance, suggest you stay away from tube preamps, one because they can be an impedance mismatch, two they are also capacitor coupled, and if that capacitor is not big enough it could roll the bass off too early. My suggestion is to go with a direct coupled solid state preamp, maybe the Ayre’s K1XE, I would ask Charlie Hansen (Ayre) if it’s direct coupled. Cheers George |
Tks for your response, but Ayre K1XE is not easy to find one here in Taipei, there is one in 2nd hand K1 (not K1XE) store which offer at US$3300. I do not know what is the difference between these two models. I think it might be the best solution to use a 2nd hand high grade 2nd hand Accuphase pre like C-2800, but it is very hard to find one. Although the brand new C-2420 is more accessible in price, but there is few review on the sound of it's performance. |
"...but Ayre K1XE is not easy to find one here in Taipei, there is one in 2nd hand K1 (not K1XE) store which offer at US$3300. I do not know what is the difference between these two models." Hi faust, The K-1 was the first model and can be upgraded to the K-1xe by Ayre for a relatively modest cost. Agree with George that it is a superb preamp and a bargain at those prices. Best to you faust, Dave |
The commodity is in Taipei, Taiwan. It is far away from U.S.A. The commercial flight would take 13 hours from here to the states and you have to take transportation to and fro cost into consideration which will push up cost too. I have read a report that the volume knob in the K1 or K1-XE ( I don't remember clearly about the model), might cause some small noise if the user do not turn the volume up and down often. Also, K-1 is a quite old model. I am afraid the components inside might get too old to change it's original tastes. Therefore, how do you think it is still a bargain to get a K-1 without upgrade? |
"I have read a report that the volume knob in the K1 or K1-XE ( I don’t remember clearly about the model), might cause some small noise if the user do not turn the volume up and down often." faust, I think you misunderstood the report. The volume control itself makes noise when turned up of down, but this complex volume control was created just to ensure maximum elimination of any noise whatsoever in the audio circuit and makes the K-1/K-1xe one of the quietist preamps ever. I have owned the K-1xe for seven years and never had any noise issues whatsoever with the volume control. Best to you faust, Dave |
Dear Dave, Thank you for your kind reply. I have found a Ayre K1 for sales in our 2nd hand dealer which cost about US$3400. And the Ayre's distributor in Taiwan has been changed, therefore, even I have intention to buy K1 for upgrade to K1XE, I think there is no chance here in the far East. Also, I have concern that the audio gear with ages might got problem easily which need to send for fix. Therefore, I am trying to find a higher grade Accuphase pre such as C-2800 as 2nd hand or the new C-2420 both are from Accuphase with different grade. |
Sorry for my innocent. In Taiwan, it seems that this brand (Herron) havn't been introduced here. In now days, many Hi Fi audio brand are disappearing or switch to do other audio gears such as headphone which has tremendous demand. And the Higher end components price have been pushed up to the very expensive level which only few music lovers can afford...... It's not easy to find the balance of good C/P. |