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Recommended Preamp for pairing an Adcom 555II Amp and Theil CS 3.5 speakers

My Bryston 0.5B preamp was inadvertently put down over the holidays by an incident now known as 'The Sippy Cup Mystery'.  Regardless of the cause, I need a new preamp for my system.  I am driving a pair of Thiel CS 3.5  (with the electronic bass equalizer) speakers with an Adcom GFA-555II amp.  The majority of the eclectic music (classical, 80s, folk, funk) being played on the system is streamed from iTunes through my Audioengine B1 DAC.  I have read a number of posts with various recommendations for the GFA-555II or the Thiel CS 3.5s but not for their paring.  Short of winning the lottery this week, cost is a factor. Any suggestions or directions would be very much appreciated.
iowanna33
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
hifiman5
that the drive

Please explain to all here, what the difference is of the "drive" to the poweramp in electronic terms, whether it’s driven from a preamp output or from the sources output. when voltage output is sufficient enough for the poweramp to be clipped and impedance is a match is fine.

Nelson Pass:
"Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.

Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.

What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.

And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp."



Cheers George
unsound
7,315 posts
 

 When considering a pre that will be used with Thiel 3.5's I would suggest that one consider those pres that either have an extra analog tape loop and/or preferably have most of their design parameters based around single ended output, unless one either has two Thiel 3.5 eq's modified to mono balanced operation or one can find a better stereo balanced eq with at least 12 dB of boost (and good luck with that). Otherwise the extra money and effort spent on balanced operation will be for naught.

donrua
4 posts
 
I am new here. I hope someone can help me out. I am looking for a 500+ watt amp to drive my power hungry Gallo 3.5's. Budget is "UP TO" US$3000. Most people don't ship to Canada. I found one, from a store, in Europe. I couldn't finish the transaction because of language barrier. The guy told me to wire him the money. I thought eBay/Amazon all advise "NOT TO". Then I found a pair of adcom 555 II in my city. 
Questions
1. My first pick is the one from Europe. Is it safe? (US$1600)
2. Demo the pair of adcom in my space (US$700)
3, buy new emotiva XPA-DR2 US$1800 or a pair of XPA-DR1's US$2500
Any input is much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
DonRua
Canada
213runnin
914 posts
 
Hey don, I'm from Canada too.  I have bought a great deal by ordering from American dealers and have it shipped to US border towns then go down and pick it up.  I'm guessing that you live too far from the border to make this feasible.

Audiogon is a great place to buy at, and their is a similar site in Canada, it's called canuckaudiomart.com.  I've sold and bought many items there over the years. 

I think that the European option is risky for you.  Are you aware that Adcom is still in business.  I bought the 555 amp from them last year.  They are based in Arizona and ship anywhere in the world.  Check out Adcom.com or Adcom-USA.com.  to make your $3000 budget you'd want to limit to about $2000 US, and shipping may be free.  But you may get a GST or other tax charge when the item shows up at your door.  It should all be under a total of $3000 Cdn.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
jafant
18,946 posts
 

iowanna33


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