Check out a used Boulder 866. It is fantastic with my Rockports. Good luck!
New Preamp or go Integrated
My Vincent SA-32 preamp is starting to hum or make a sizzle sound periodically in the background. The unit is 6 yrs old and the tubes are soldered (factory) and not easily replaced. Since upgrading my speakers to the Dynaudio Countour 20i from Evoke 20, the noise has become more noticeable. I believe it’s due to the revealing nature of the Contours.
My plan is to upgrade with a $5000 budget, to either a new preamp or potentially consider an integrated setup.
Considerations for a preamp would be Mark Levinson No. 26 or PS Audio Stellar Gold for SS. For tube is was considering McIntosh C8, CJ ET7, or Rogue Audio RP-9.
Considerations for integrated would be Hegel H390 or McIntosh MA252.
Current equipment is the Parasound A23+,Lumin D3, Elac PPA phono pre, VPI Prime and the Contour 20i.
If I go the integrated route, I could potentially move up the price point from selling the separate units.
I always appreciate your thoughts based on past experiences, along with other options in the preamplifier/integrated brands.
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@kofibaffour great video, thanks for the link. |
I second the consideration of PrimaLuna. You can pick up a used EVO400 preamp for $4k, I have one and it’s quite lovely. Build quality is impressive, tube rolling is easy if you like….stunning to look at as well (if that matters). does not have a sub out though, albeit I use the balanced outs to my amp and feed the sub from an unbalanced rca out. |
- 71 posts total