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.
I appreciate everyone’s feedback and recommendations. I’ve decided to focus on a preamp and keep my separate components. My long term plan to continue upgrading along the path as needed, and financially capable. Listed are the top contenders, new and used, in the $5k or less range. - Pass Labs XP-12 (used) - Hegel P20 - Anthem STR - PS Audio Stellar Gold As reflected, I’m not focusing on tube preamps.
|
a) Your parasound is not even a great piece. Why spend 5k on a preamp for it... b) As is with most forum guys, you are not exactly some grand chef in the kitchen who can mix/match different preamps/power amps ...especially after age 70+ and you have no idea how to characterize the sound of things. Here's a power amp and a preamp, high value separates, imo. for around 4k new (1k under your budget)...better idea than buying some guy's used beat up junk,, or mixing/matching things with crappy execution. https://youtu.be/NMcIE3K2bD8?si=VERyQ_0m2bYcy8L8
(IF you have 10k, you can get to another level of finesse with a certain brand, but, you don’t have adequate speakers for that caliber of stuff)
|
I have the Hegel 390. It is incredible and you will never need more power than it provides. Its internal DAC is quite good although I did just upgrade to the Denafrips Pontus 15th. That said I use the 390 DAC for the CD transport which I think sounds better than the Pontus ( which I use for streaming only). A local audiophile friend who I think has literally owned every piece of high end gear ever made over the years and has listened to systems costing over $100k came over to listen. I mentioned a bunch of future ideas I might pursue some day. He told me very directly to “pump the brakes”. That I’ve built a really wonderful system (around the 390) and I should simply enjoy it for a while. Really good advice and a compliment to the 390. The only negative I have regarding the 390 is that it only has 1 set of XLR inputs and both my turntable chain and streaming chain sound best on XLR. Which is why I might consider going to the 590 or 600 which have 2 XLR ins. |
