Warm, rich but detailed SS preamp (made you give up tubes)

     In my previous post on 1/25/21,I stated: "Some tube preamp brands, such as Acoustic Research, seem to be more devoted to a more neutral presentation lately than others".
     I meant to state Audio Research, and not Acoustic Research, has seemed to become more devoted to a more neutral presentation lately than others.
Sorry, my mistake.
 Tim   

When a high degree of transparency is consistently maintained in one's system, it becomes obvious that there's not a consistently maintained high level of quality applied to the recording and mixing of music masters.

This is quite true. I would only add that it seems sensible to follow the path noble100 laid out, toward neutrality, and then if one finds oneself listening to a lot of recordings that reveal problems, it's a simple matter to add an inexpensive but well designed equalizer, such as Schiit's Loki.

Hello hilde45,

     Or, use better quality recordings, right?

Tim

My first stereo was nearly 60 years ago. About 10 years ago I dropped the ss vs. tubey thinkung. I have a Mark Levinson 526 which has a very nice sound. If there is a dealer around so that you can hear one......

Sutherland Director if you can find one. Rather similar to Ron’s earlier C-2000 which is also stunning. Works very well with the original $15 power cord which should be saved for any future replacement evaluation(s). RCA connectivity only. Oh yeah, it needs to be powered up for a long while to sound its best.