Monarchy NM24 as a pre-amp -- good enough for me?


Hi,

I'm currently mulling over getting an NM24 to use as a DAC and pre-amp and I'm wondering how good the pre-amp section is. I read one review that complained about the lack of transparency that went along with the internal volume control, but I'm trying to figure out what that would mean to me. I'm upgrading from a Rotel A/V receiver, RSX-1055. Would it be safe to assume that it will sound better than the rotel, as far as the pre-amp goes? I'm guessing that it's not particularly transparent, although I don't have anything better to compare it with.

Thanks,

Frank
fgallina

Showing 2 responses by clio09

The preamp section is very good and you should be happy with it. Other than the volume control, the only negative is high gain, but that applied to my system and in yours may not be an issue.

You could always switch out the volume pot later if you decide it's a keeper, or if you want to add remote get a Placette RVC and implement it so that you bypass the NM24 volume control. I can give you easy instructions on how to do this and it requires nothing more than an extra set of ICs to hook up the Placette.
Not sure I understand 6'oclock on the dial. When I tried the preamp section I got to about 9'oclock. I generally prefer 12 o'clock (straight up).

Tube rolling is fun with the unit. Try to ditch the volume control in the future as well for something better. Assuming you feel the NM24 is a keeper.