Gotta love that expression"harmonically bleached" is that the same as squeaky clean?Imagine asking someone what his impressions were of the pre amp he auditioned and the response was"well it was harmonically bleached"Now how dumb is that. |
Wyetech Ruby. Where to find one you ask ?? Sonic Frontiers Line 3. Only in Canada, eh? Very cheeky Mark!! |
I agree that the Lamm LL2 was a very, very pleasing piece to listen to. I suspect very underrated, or at least too ignored. |
Shindo in the northeast: In Living Stereo on East 4th Street in Manhattan. |
SUPRATEK Cabernet, JADIS JPS2, with a special mention to the supratek for
the ratio performance/price.. |
A friend just bought a "Chenin" Supratek : very decieved, too much "tube in their bad side".
Maybe the Cabernet is better ?
@Patrickamory : thanx to the info for "Living stereo" Ihave discover new speakers from shindo : have you heard them ? |
Also add what kind of sound you like- neutral, warm, etc. |
I've owned a ton of high end preamps and amps both tubed and solid state but I never heard such an amazingly "real" sound as when I hooked up my 400xi/sacd combo tp my res 2 speakers using Transparent MM PC's and MIT V2.2 cabling. The soundstage was huge, warm, layered and brimming with dynamics...clear, smooth and full..like vinyl!! |
Dave-b : what is for you "a ton of high end preamps" ?
Can you be more specific ?
Because "high end" does not mean rhe same for everybody... |
Levinson 32 reference, ARC 2 and 3, BAT 51se, Krell Evo 202 and KCT, Mcintosh C46 and MC2000(tube), Sonic Frontiers reference linestage(#escapes me but it was 2 chassis)plus some old CJ stuff! Anything else would have been on demo only. |
Levinson No.32 and 380S, Krell KCT and Evo202, BAT VK-3 and 51SE, ARC LS 25 and 26 plus ref 2 and 3, Sonic Frontiers Linestage 3? (reference 2 chassis unit), Mcintosh C46 and C2000. |
Foe me It is Zanden 3000. Uncannily life like harmonics and tonal balance. You can hear in to low volume details clearly. Vocals are extremely lifelike and jumps out in the room free of speaker plane confinemnet. With minimum hifi like (of course assuming recordings to be good to begin with). |
Cary SLP-05 in addition to the numerous others that have been listed here. |
My vote would be for the Art Audio Alana. |
Absolutely love Ray Samuels Audio B52 as a preamp
and you get the best headphone amp in the world.
I have one and love it and many many owners I have
spoken with agree. (No remote, though.) |
If you are interested in the Ray Samuels B52,
please see my brief comments at the end of my
thread reviewing his Apache amp here:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ramps&1189739807&openmine&zzRgs92&4&5#Rgs92 |
Modwright 9.0SE definitely belongs on the list. |
Does anybody with a Modwright 9.0se live near San Jose, CA and want to share a listening session so I could hear it in person? |
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Gerrym5
I've heard the Modwright its good but not in the same league as your Wavestream |
I'm surprised, nobody mentioned Nick Doshi ALAAP preamp. |
Alnolan, I'm very happy with my Wavestream and think its one of the best. I feel lucky to buy one as Wavestream can only build a small number per year. Still, it's always fun to hear some other pre-amp (Modwright) that has so many enthusiastic fans.
All, Is it pre-amp or preamp? Showing my age I suspose. |
Kondo M1000 MKII but if you have to ask the price then look elsewhere! |
Tube Research Labs Platinum GTR Reference
Jadis JP-800
Conrad Johnson ART Series 3
Audio Research Reference 3
VTL TL-7.5 Series 2
Aesthetix Callisto Eclipse
Balanced Audio Technologies REX
Zanden Model 3000
The Messanger
Kondo M1000 Mk.II
First Sound Paramount Mk.II Special Edition Statement
Expressive Technologies Model 1
Audion Premier Quattro (4-Chassis Model)
Audio Tekne TEA-9501PCS
Loth-X Silbatone C-102
Essence The Jasper Reference
Shindo Labs Patrus III
Electron Images Amati
LAMM Industries L2
Wavac Audio PR-T1
Glass Master LC-1
McIntosh C1000C
There are too many to choose from. |
This is obviously going to turn into a list of 100s and I'm not sure what is to be gained from that information. It might be more interesting to list your biggest dissapointment, that is a pre you bought thinking it was going to be great, great reviews and recommendations and it ended being a big dissapointment or did not live up to expecation or simply did not work well in your system. I guess that would be another thread. |
Prima Luna, prologue 3 is the best one I know. It doesn't have to much of a tuby sound and is normally priced and is well build. |
jtimothya,
I have not auditioned the Ref 3, but the MP-1 is a transparent, resolving, and dynamic preamp that surpasses my BAT P10 phono stage & gets very close to the music. |
I can see some have listed solid state too. So to make this thread completely useless I will post my solid state recomendations too:
Connoisseur Definitions 3.0
Boulder 2010
FM Acoustics Resolution Series 268
Dynaudio Arbiter
Goldmund Mimesis 22 Signature
Krell Evolution Two
Burmester 808 Mk.V
MBL 6010D
Mark Levinson No.32
Halcro dm10
Spectral DMC-30SS
Jeff Rowland Design Group Criterion (Upcoming)
CTC Builders Blowtorch
dartZeel NHB-18NS
Bridge Audio Laboratories BAlabo BC-1 Mk.II
Cello Audio Suite
Pass Labs X0.2
Edge Electronics NL Reference (Upcoming)
Linn Klimax Control
Gryphon Mirage |
If these were or were not previously mentioned I think they bear repeating... and my thoughts are based solely on my own conceptions from actually hearing them and not from just looking at their price points. It's a short list.
BAT VK5i... Just classic.
Thor TA 1000 .. A remarkable music maker.
Thor TA 1000 MK II... tough to improve upon near perfection but Marks pulled it off here.
I've heard several others in showrooms... and some mighty pricey ones too. Without question what so ever many were edged by the 5i.... and all were nailed by the thors.
Just my two cents... er, three cents. |
Yes! The AH TP2.0nB that i have been using is wonderful. I didn't mess around with straight version. I wanted the best Joseph had to offer. So I got the full monty with Jensen Xformers, upgraded caps and tubes. I also have the DAC. They have a wonderful synergy together. For the money it is a steal! My problem is I also have a very expensive BC pre amp that has a lot more voltage and gain which works better in my smaller amp system! i can't say enough though about Joseph and his design philosophy. He offers a wonderful sounding product at a great price! goldenears |
What's an AH TP2 and who is Joseph?? |
AH is Audio Horizons. The TP2.0nB is/was their top model linestage preamp. Joseph is the designer, Joseph Chow.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1142509250&read&keyw&zzaudio=horizons
|
First Sound w/paramount Special Edition upgrade as first ,
First Sound Deluxe MKII w/paramount upgrade as second ,
Lamm ll2 deluxe[third] and L2 line stage [second ].
mbl 6010D is a very good also, line stage.
Possibly there were also others good preamps,but personaly i prefer the mentioned. |
Has anyone used an Allnic L-4000 pre ?
I am looking for a tube pre.
This I need for use with a Cadence Audio - Canasya 845 amplifier.
I had shortlisted a few;
Nagra
Octave
Music First Audio - the best I like - but out of 'budget' [non tube - but super pre amplifier]. May be amongst the 'best of the best' !
The Korean pre - not heard much about - except 6moons.
Can anyone suggest ? Opinion... Please...
Thanks,
schwinnaudio . com |
Just wondering if a desicion can be made based on the offerings? Synergy with amp must play a big role so it's a good place to start I guess. See what others listed here then peruse the forums to see if any threads mention if the pre matches with the amp one has already. |
IMO/IME when you go for synergy its one coloration counteracting another- not a good way to go if you really want neutrality. I recommend choosing equipment on its strengths, if that makes any sense. |
So far IME Ive found a great preamp will mate well with many amps. Tube or Ss. MOS FET or Bipolar output devices. Push pull tubes in ultralinear, and Hybrids.
If where the volume knob rests when in use is a consideration for you, some further investigations might be necessary though.
In many matches, my preamp volume knob never gets past noon oclock. Usually residing somewhere between 9-11. it has a lot of gain, in the area of 20-23 db.
For myself though its no big deal
the sound and infulence it has on the music however, is indeed.
Good luck.
|
Exactly- that is what I find too. |
I agree with Pabul57, listing your biggest disappointment would be more useful, but most will be reluctant to do it. |
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Well said Blindjim.
Adding to the nominee in my 12/07 post, I would now include Conrad Johnsons top tube preamps, the ART 2, ACT 2 series 2 and CT-5. They mate with a variety of my amps ranging from SETs to Tripath chips to pure class A solid state from Pass and Bedini, all with excellent results. |
Onemug
Great!
As much as I see the approach CJ is taking lately, I prefer the older version's take on the sound better, and why I enjoy the Thor so much. It has both the speed and harmonic quality found in tube gear with no hint of SS what so ever. I've not heard the aRT preamps though. Did hear the CT5 with the 170 wpc CJ tube amps.
I feel if a thing has tubes in it, it should sound like it has tubes in it and not try to be SS sounding. There should be some definite departure or distinctive and easily noteable differences between those camps.... or why bother with glass in the first place?
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Blindjim,
Relating to your last paragraph, I forgot to add that I love the sound of my Marantz 7c. So now I have 5 nominees (well, the topic is top ten) :-)
Straight up, I bought the 7c because I loved the looks of it and I've been watching them continue to go up in value. I just hoped it sounded half way decent. When I got it home, I put it in place of CT-5 driving Pass ss. It was/is what you said in your last paragraph. This may be my favorite pre. It does "something" I really like that goes straight to my heart.
I listen to music at different times and for different reasons. I'm glad this isn't the only pre I have. I'd hate to use it as a daily workhorse given its age, etc. I use it when the time comes for it.
For the record, my CT-5 and ACT 2.2 continue to sound more tube like as they age. They both have those "teflon caps" in them that are reported to take a long time to break in. The ART 2 does not and it's one of the reasons I haven't sent it to CJ to have it made into an ART 3. I like the "some definite departure or distinctive and easily noteable differences between those camps..." you mentioned. I was happy with the teflon CJ's after the basic "couple hundred" hours but they continue to get better. I don't think it's "me" getting used to them as I have the 7c as one standard. Solves the paradox: Is it the equipment that breaks in or "us" acclimating to it? Or a little of one and more of the other? |
The reason I use tubes is not so it sounds like it does! I use them because you can't tell what is in the preamp- nor would you care- its all about the music.
I would use transistors if I thought I could get this same quality but so far its not been happening for me. |
I recently audition the Coincident Statement Linestage.
It made my 8 watt Frankenstein amps sound like powerhouses with incredible dynamics. |
The UV-202 from RCa is considered the The grandfather of all power tubes. Really cool tube. |
Gill Audio Design's Alana Mk III, phenomenol with my Einstein power amp. |
Precision Fidelity C/7A Revised |
To my ears the Aesthetix Calypso is phenomenol, in this hobby one doesn't know how good the sound can be until one hears better. For now I have a hard time believing my system can get much better, so my vote goes for Calypso. |
Best tube pre I've ever heard: Audio Valve Eclipse
Worst: ARC Ref 3 |
