Preamp HELP!!! for Pass Aleph 3


I have a Pass Aleph 3 and Proac Response 1SC, Red Dawn speaker cable. I currently have a choice of Naim CD 3.5, SF SFCD-1, and Conrad Johnson DV2b. I have Cardas Golden Cross between my BAT VK3i preamp and the Pass, and Red Dawn between the CD player and the BAT. Does anyone know a better full function preamp I could be using? Which CD player would you use? Or any system modifications I could make?
kforton

Showing 1 response by john_l

Wow! You have a very similar setup to mine. I am using a Pass Aleph P, Aleph 2 monoblocks, Audio Physic Virgos, red dawn cabling, and a sony xa7es cd player. I have some questions for you! 1. How do you like the conrad-johnson tube dac compared to the SF and your solid state Naim ? I'm thinking of adding some tubeness to my digital front end 2. Have you come to any conclusions on the red dawn verses cardas cabling ? On preamps: The wadia 830 without a preamp sounded great when I heard it directly (via xlr) into a volksamp 30(same as pass aleph 3), and your model of proac speakers. I recently replaced my adcom gfp 750 (for sale on audiogon!) with the pass aleph P. I did an a/b comparison and found that the adcom (in passive mode) had about 95% of the sound quality of the active aleph P w/gain turned all the way down. I understand they are both from the same basic nelson pass design. I would guess it's the parts quality and 1/2" thick metal chassis of the $4000 Pass that causes it to outperform the $1250 adcom. Earlier this year, I had demoed an audible illusions 3a, and found that the adcom was superior. The ai added a little euphony, but took away a significant amount of detail compared to the passive adcom. The sterling quality of the alephs is their ultra-quietness and incredible clarity. A matching ultra-quiet preamp seemed to be 'enhance' this quality.