Thanks everyone again for the replies.
I love my Supratek DHT pre-amp running 45 tubes hence my reluctance to change it. It improves every single piece of gear I have tried and when I try running DAC to Amp direct, it sounds good but there’s just something lacking without the Supratek. The sense of space, rhythm & emotion is reduced.
Plus I just want to keep things a bit simple by just adding a power amp. And changing everything to AN brand is definitely not what I want to do as it feels a bit boring to me, haha.
My speakers are a DIY Open-back baffle with single driver full range drivers with a sensitivity of 94db. Looking to get more drivers in the 96-98 db range to play around with.
My current plan is to purchase the Yamamoto A-03S since it doesn’t cost too much. Then later arrange a home demo of some AN amps with the local dealer here to compare. Do note I live in South East Asia so unfortunately the concept of "buy, try, don’t like then return" doesn’t exist.
The Yamamoto is very close to all of that, yet it also communicates a rich soul that kept —and keeps— me listening to music.
This is what I have gleaned from reviews and other Yamamoto owners and is exactly what I’m looking for. Plus the A-03S looks real unique and seems to be very good value for money. What’s not to like.
Hi @wenhaw, your friend was probably referring to AN amps’ low input impedance which makes them unusual & difficult loads. It’s not the end of the world, and the matter can be addressed by the pre’s designer. You look like you already have an excellent pre (Cabernet?) so before you ditch it why not just contact its designer -- if you settle for AN, that is.
My Supratek’s output impedance is pretty low as well at 150 ohm. Hence the reason why I think it shouldn’t have much problems pairing with most amps. The AN P2, P3 should be a problem at 100k input impedance but the P4 is rated at only 2.4k, you guys reckon this is ok? Ratio is still more than 10:1.
The Yamamoto is very good but I don’t know if it, or any mid-range AN amp, can outperform your SIT-2.
@gregm U reckon an AN P2-SE can compete the SIT-2? What about the P3 Tonmeister or P4 Silver?
As far as I am aware the Cabarnet‘s output transformers run the standard 600 ohms output which would mate perfectly with 600 ohm transformer input of the Ankoru and its ilk.
@pesky_wabbit by transformer output and input, do you mean output and input impedance?
minor correction; it was a J2 not later model SIT 3 that I compared with my Yamamoto A-06-3.......the J2 was borrowed, from a composer / studio producer friend, who also has a Yamamoto!
@psf4972 No worries...so Yamamoto is it then haha.