Denafrips Athena- is damn good

Ah man, I'm a preamp dink too. It's a shame these nice models don't have more fixed level outs. The build quality of the Denifrips looks fantastic and love that Relay Based Stepped Attenuator - maybe they got it right, unlike my Cambridge 840e.

Drunk posting aside, the Athena is on my short list of next preamps. It shares the top of that list with a fully specced Hattor Audio preamp.

I would like to hear more opinions, either high or sober.

@rickysnit it’s 33lbs with a remote that’s a solid block of metal. It’s more than a remote, it’s a weapon. Boxed to ship its 45lbs. My power amp weighs almost 40lbs.

@ozzy62 the 6moons review sold me along with @regismc who was incredibly helpful in his observations. After looking at the Hattor I became convinced that what I wanted was an active, no gain/unity gain set up. The Quicksilver Linestage which was replaced had so much gain the system was never quiet.
The Athena is dead quiet. It’s running single ended into fairly upgraded (and possibly Kismet level future upgraded) Odyssey Khartago. The inputs were a hassle and forced me to upgrade my DAC to a Schiit Modulus (?) balanced DAC. This left the only single ended input free for the Sutherland 20/20 to input.

the volume knob was slightly disappointing in its feel but since I use the remote 99% or the time it’s not a huge deal. I’ve asked Alvin (Vinshine) if there were plans to have the display to turn off but it seems that’s not on the table (it does dim).

as for the sound, Srajen really summed it up by describing it as “analog” and that it trades leading edge definition for body. My QS had a sort of high frequency shimmer on the attack of a sound and the Athena doesn’t. It sounds more realistic vs hyper realistic. The trade off in the attack though means the decay and subsequent sustain of the sound are fuller (using ADSR envelopes as a model).

any questions, let me know.

@gochurchgo no worries. Good thing you just posted and didn’t go on a high end audio shopping spree…