Hornshoppe "the Truth" preamp - any opinions?


"The Truth" changes the paradigm in Reference Line Stages, literally. Its existence has even forced me to remove a "Direct Connection" in "Class A", because such a choice no longer makes any rational sense to me. In the end, "The Truth" is effectively a "direct connection" with no sonic downsides, and with the ability to drive any amplifier load and/or length of cable, while allowing any source to be heard at its very best. With the exception of extra gain, an audiophile can't ask for more than that. I realize that this may all sound "too good to be true", but it isn't. 

-- Arthur Salvatore  http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Linestages.html

This is high praise indeed, he likes it better than Coincident's Line Stage which is saying something, was wondering if someone else has heard it and compared it to other active line stages (am a big believer in active, though currently using AMR DP-777 DAC as my pre)
essrand

Showing 6 responses by thaluza

I bought the T-3 version 3 months ago. It sounded great right off the bat. It just sounds very natural to me. Music seems to have the proper weight and balance. In addition, with The Truth in my system, music is more like being there at the performance.than any other preamp that I have owned. There is a tremendous sense of immediacy/presence to the sound. Dimensionality of sound is suberb. The remote works well too.
Thanks Charles for the compliment! I was very pleased with the Coincident Line Stage. I sold it not because of any displeasure with its sound, which was suberb. I wanted a one box preamp so that I could put everything in my rack, and I also wanted a remote. The Truth has been a worthy replacement.

I should add to my earlier post that The Truth excels at revealing the true character of your sources and cabling. I just spent a month comparing two dacs and cabling combinations. It was a blast, and easy to tell the differences.
grannyring - Do you plan on making any modifications? I'm pleased as punch with the stock T3 unit, but would be interested in learning about any further sonic improvements that could be made.
Thank you Grannyring for the response. I am looking forward to your impressions of the Neotech wire. As for me, I went with the Horneshoppe’s offering of copper wiring and am quite pleased with it. I was thinking about trying wbt jacks for my 3 inputs and 2 outputs, but the cost of the upgrade would be 50% of what I paid for the preamp itself. Perhaps I will look into the Furutech jacks as a cost effective alternative.





Nice review Grannyring.

Tom, I'm glad and somewhat relieved the Truth worked out for you, as you had PM'd me before your purchase and asked for my input. Whew!

I also compared the Truth (in stock form) with the CSL.  They are both top notch. My amps are Coincident Frankensteins and my speakers are 99db efficient. To me, the Truth sounded a bit more alive and real. I noticed this particularly with jazz music, so I kept it and sold my CSL. I have really fallen in love with jazz ever since I got the Truth.

I was not fond of the dual volume controls of the CSL. I appreciate the finer gradation of volume that the Truth offers. The Truth’s remote volume control is a good bonus. Lastly, the fact that the Truth is smaller, and that it is only one box versus the two boxes of the CSL, helped clear space in my rack.

I recently installed WBT input and output jacks and it was a worthy upgrade. If anything, the WBT jacks do a much better job of securely holding my cables. I was having an issue with some of my cables not maintaining a tight connection with the Truth, which led to occasional image fuzziness and images shifting right or left. All too often, I was finding myself wiggling my cables to try to get a better connection, which only temporarily solved the problem. The WBT’s have been a permanent solution and are highly recommended. I will be upgrading the IEC inlet soon.

I never had a ground loop issue with the CSL. It was a solid and reliable performer.