2. amps-preamps
  3. 1140605077

Best Budget Choice for Preamp w/MC Built-In?

Greetings and thanks in advance for all thoughtful opinions! I'm putting together a new 2-channel system and now need a preamp to complete the package. The primary source will be a Thorens TD-320 with Denon DL-103R; I'll play CDs as well, but the line stage capability of the preamp will not be as important as the phono stage. The power amp will be an ATI 1502, which will put out about 220 wpc into the 4-ohm GMA Continuum-1's I picked up here on a'gon. (Actually picked up the ATI here as well!)

Now my budget is $250-300, which I know is tiny and inconsequential, but, well, that's it for now, so my choice is likely to be limited to vintage solid state. The guys at audiokarma have convinced me to consider one of the older Yamaha preamps in the C and CX series. The other model I've read good things about is the B&K Pro-10MC.

Has anyone heard these units and have thoughts about them? Are there other candidates I should know about? I don't care whether it has a remote or not -- I'm looking purely for the best phono sound possible in a single-full-function preamp.

Thanks for all help, Rich
winegasman

Showing 2 responses by timrhu

timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Sorry for the mmistake. Mine was the CA-5 preamp. There is one listed here on Audiogon for $125 if it's still available. That is a good price if memory serves. The unit I had was purchased off ebay and was in poor cosmetic shape. When I sold it with full disclosure it sold for more than $100. With respect to Viridian, although the Nak is a very plain looking preamp with few features, it was a much better preamp than the Adcom.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I have owned three of the preamps your looking at. The Nak C-5A, Adcom GFP-555II, and the Yamaha CX-600 and CX-630. Dang I can't believe I've owned all of those myself. In order of preference, I think the Nak is far above all the rest in sound and build quality. Next was the Yamaha CX-600, it had better quality components than the newer CX-630. The thing about the two Yamahas is the outer cosmetics were quite a change but the inside layout was nearly identical with the exception of the quality. I did not care for the Adcom, it was very noisy comapred to the others with noticeable hiss when idling. Before I sold the Nakamichi I took pictures of the inside to show the quality of the parts. I could email them to you if you like (that is if they are still on my other computer hard drive.
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