If You Were A Swine Looking To Choose Between 3 Preamps...
Looking to make a choice for a pre to use with an H2O audio 250 Signature amp I recently acquired. The amp sounds lovely running off the tube stage of a Musical Fidelity NuVista integrated. On a lark I boght an Edge SI 1M pre amp to try with it. If this combo doesnt work out, then it gets paired with a First Watt F7 I have.
In that case I need to look at a different pre, and may go tube as the Nuvistor internals on the MF work well with this amp.
Being a pig of limited means I have looked at the used market and came up with 3 interesting choices.
Allnic L3000 MK II
Line Magnetic 512 CA( Japanese voltage)
Triode Corp Trv 4se
Any one of these have to be bought un-auditioned, as two are coming from Canada, one from New York.
Anyone have any insights of the 3 candidates?
almarg - I appreciate your analytic advice. I'm using Parasound JC 1 monoblocks (100 kΩ bal input) with a JC 2 BP preamp (60 Ω output). I'm trying to predict how well the JC 1s might pair with a Ayre KX-5 Twenty preamp, but Ayre doesn't include output impedance in the specs. I'm currently using the Ayre preamp with a VX-5 Twenty (2MΩ bal input) stereo amp, but expect to consolidate two setups into one in the future. db |
@dbphd Nearly all preamps will be able to handle a balanced input impedance of 100K with no problem. And that is certainly true in the case of the Ayre KX-5 Twenty, which per Stereophile's measurements has a balanced output impedance of about 156 ohms at all audible frequencies. However, I see in those measurements that the Ayre provides essentially zero gain for its balanced output (and negative gain from its unbalanced input to its unbalanced output). While your JC2 BP provides 14 db of gain (with its volume control at max). So with the Ayre you will find yourself having to turn the volume control up to a significantly higher position than you are used to. If the minimum setting of the volume control on the JC2 BP is around the 6:30 or 7 o'clock position, and the maximum setting is around the 5 or 5:30 o'clock position, a 14 db change probably corresponds to a little more than 90 degrees of rotation. If you presently use volume control settings in the top third or so of the range of the volume control on the JC2 BP, the Ayre's lack of gain would be a definite concern. Best regards, -- Al |
@almarg Are you sure about that number? In this review and comparison I found the input impeance of the amp listed at 100K. http://www.highfidelityreview.com/monarchy-audio-se-250-vs-h2o-audio-signature-100.html |
@neonknight As far as I can see that review does not address the H2O Audio S250, in either the Signature or non-Signature version. Here are two sources indicating an 8K input impedance. Note that at the first link the 8K number is stated by Mr. Ho himself, for the Signature version. (The second link is for the non-Signature version): https://www.audiogon.com/listings/solid-state-h2o-audio-s250-signature-analog-icepower-amp-2014-06-0... https://www.gearogs.com/gear/83438-h2o-audio-s250 Regards, -- Al |
@almarg Ah yes, I see what you are referencing. And Henrys other amps have nowhere as low input impedance, this one seems to be an outlier. It does indeed look like a SS preamp with low output impedance is in order. That changes things. I guess we will see how this Edge pre amp works when it arrives. It is another odd one, and I cannot find the output impedance on the Si-M1 either. So we will have to see how that works out. |
