I purchased the symphonies pre-amp in Dec. 2002. It's teamed with a carver 1.5t ss amp. I utlize a satelite subwoofer system. The subwoofer is powered by a separate ss amp. The sound is truly remarkable. It really warms up the solid state sound and it delivers a great value in my opinion. Of all the things I've added over the years this one product has probably made the biggest difference improving the sound. One other note, I found that I had to ground splitters in my cable system as my stereo is connected to it via my hi fi vcr. Before grounding I noticed a hum in the system. Grounding greatly reduced it. When listening to music I unplug my cable line. Then it is dead silent.
Audio Experience tube preamp
First of all let me state that I'm not an expert on tube equipment. In fact I've never had any before. I was one of the ones that was happy as can be that transistors had come to the front. I grew up with tubes and learned to hate them. TV sets were always screwing up and in constant need of repair. To make a long story short, I ran into an ad by YS Audio in Hong Kong for a deal on a line level preamp that was listed as a promotion for $300 instead of the regular $700. I know that to some of you that this is too low to even consider, but it seemed like a good way to find out what this tube stuff is all about.
I got the unit today and hooked it up to my Creek {5350}integrated amp, by yanking out the "u" bars on the back. I was in no way prepard for what I heard. I know that the superlatives get thrown around a lot on this site, but it was and is outstanding. It seemed like the music just opened up. Especially the dynamic range on all types of music. I have no idea if the numbers support this or not. I frankly could not care less what the numbers and stats say, because I hear a huge difference. It's kind of ironic because that's what people say about all kinds of things like DAC's and cables, and I have been completely underwhemed by these. Straining for hours to see if a certain cable improved "presence" or "soundstage" or "definition" This was a real improvement, and the thing's not even broken in yet. The manual says 100 hours to "bed in" {the writing is a hoot} Anyone else ever dealt with this outfit?
I got the unit today and hooked it up to my Creek {5350}integrated amp, by yanking out the "u" bars on the back. I was in no way prepard for what I heard. I know that the superlatives get thrown around a lot on this site, but it was and is outstanding. It seemed like the music just opened up. Especially the dynamic range on all types of music. I have no idea if the numbers support this or not. I frankly could not care less what the numbers and stats say, because I hear a huge difference. It's kind of ironic because that's what people say about all kinds of things like DAC's and cables, and I have been completely underwhemed by these. Straining for hours to see if a certain cable improved "presence" or "soundstage" or "definition" This was a real improvement, and the thing's not even broken in yet. The manual says 100 hours to "bed in" {the writing is a hoot} Anyone else ever dealt with this outfit?