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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
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@mac48025

never have I been happier to pay for "nothing".

I can't seem to stop listening to music.

Congratulations, Tom. Rarely do the above come together. Keep listening to the music, Truth style.
thaluza's avatar
thaluza
278 posts
 
Congrats Tom!
lpretiring
425 posts
 
Congratulations Tom on finding a pre-amp that makes a significant improvement in your listening pleasure.

It's a little surprising that the "Truth" has not (I'm guessing) found it's way into even more audiophile's homes. Is it the stock ugly box? The "it can't be that good for that price" relatively mid-fi cost? The fact it has 0 gain? The lack of tubes? Ed's thick southern accent?

It looks to be a simple innovative design, which is a plus in my book. This product IMHO is probably competitive with just about anything available regardless of price. A  lot of our kind would benefit greatly by going for a test spin with it.

   LP

 



kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
I can’t obviously speak for others as why a product so good is overlooked but in my opinion the Truth sort of falls in a niche that is adamantly debated among the audio fans. You can see that every time a question/thread about passive and active preamps is started. Perhaps not many people try the Truth first as a passive and then decide to move to an active. Also, with the advent of excellent digital sources with volume control and gradual absence of analog source devices, many choose to go direct to the amplifier. I personally would love to try it at some point but at the moment I’m enjoying the “colored” sound I get from my tube preamp. Maybe many folks actually enjoy what an active preamp adds to the sound albeit compromising the accuracy or purity of a device such as the Truth. My 2 cents FWIW.
mac48025's avatar
mac48025
672 posts
 
Thanks guys, I don't know what's inside the Truth that makes it so special but Ed definitely did something right!

I think all of the reasons you mentioned LP lend to the Truth not being more commonly used. I truly believe that if Ed put it in a nice looking chassis and tripled the price it would sell better. Thankfully he doesn't!

As a clarification the Truth is not a passive preamp. It's a no gain active preamp. I don't know what the distinction is but Ed is adamant about it NOT being passive. 

Like everything in audio it's all about synergy and compatibility. I loved my Aric tube linestage, so I completely understand where kalali is coming from but the Truth brought the music to life. Maybe I needed a less colored preamp for my 300B SET to sound it's best to me. And maybe the Truth wouldn't sound as well with a more analytical amp. That's what's great, and so confounding, about this hobby......there are countless good choices to suit our listening needs. 
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