Given what you're looking for I'd seriously consider a tubed preamp. ATCs are awesome speakers, but they seem to do more of an upfront presentation that doesn't do the 3D holographic imaging thing as well as some others, and a good tubed pre might help with that along with helping your system sound less clinical. One I've been looking at is Vacuum Tube Audio SP14 by Don Sachs. Pretty sure he offers a short demo period, which is nice, but it would also leave you enough left over to get your Oppo modified by Ric Schultz at Electronic Visionary Systems. I'd think these two together would make a huge difference in your system and in getting you a lot of what you're looking for. Best of luck.
Preamp for ATC SCM 19v2 and Merrill Thor mono's?
Recently moved to a new place and I now have a dedicated 2-channel listening "area". Area is one 11 x 11 foot section of a great room. Depth is 24 feet but my chair is at about 11 feet from the wall I'm facing. So I'm not too far from the speakers but the room is roughly 24 x 40!
Currently, I'm feeding the Merrill's directly via an Oppo Sonica DAC with a hard drive full of hi-res files. I have a turntable (budget entry level) so a phono stage is a plus, but not mandatory. I'm more likely to use the convenience of the Sonica app to surf the 15k hi res tracks than I am to put some vinyl down.
My desire to get a dedicated pre and use the Oppo as a pass through DAC are to get better soundstage and perhaps a less clinical sound (yes, I knew the ATC's were revealing when I bought them).
I'd prefer that the pre have balanced outputs as that's what I have for my better stash of interconnects or I'd need to get some decent unbalanced interconnects.
Budget range is $3k +/-, bonus points awarded for being lower. Pre-loved gear is fine.
Tube or solid state, though I've never owned a tube piece of equipment so this might be a good opportunity (ATC 85 dB efficiency makes a tube amp a bit harder to make work).
Thanks for the suggestions.
Currently, I'm feeding the Merrill's directly via an Oppo Sonica DAC with a hard drive full of hi-res files. I have a turntable (budget entry level) so a phono stage is a plus, but not mandatory. I'm more likely to use the convenience of the Sonica app to surf the 15k hi res tracks than I am to put some vinyl down.
My desire to get a dedicated pre and use the Oppo as a pass through DAC are to get better soundstage and perhaps a less clinical sound (yes, I knew the ATC's were revealing when I bought them).
I'd prefer that the pre have balanced outputs as that's what I have for my better stash of interconnects or I'd need to get some decent unbalanced interconnects.
Budget range is $3k +/-, bonus points awarded for being lower. Pre-loved gear is fine.
Tube or solid state, though I've never owned a tube piece of equipment so this might be a good opportunity (ATC 85 dB efficiency makes a tube amp a bit harder to make work).
Thanks for the suggestions.
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- 17 posts total
- 17 posts total