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Promitheus Ref TVC and RWA Sig 30.2 Power Amp

Hi All,
The itch to upgrade is getting stronger day-by-day and I think I should start by asking this wonderful community, certain questions that I have no idea about.
I do not plan to upgrade everything at once - as budgets do not permit. I currently have the NAD C352 integrated and want to start with the Promitheus Reference TVC preamp. I will use my NAD as a power amp for now. When budgets permit, I plan to get the Red Wine Audio Sig 30.2 Power Amp. This is based purely on the reviews from many people online and also 6moons and other online sites. I am not sure if this amp will be good enough to drive my Quad 21L.

The questions are:
Will the Promitheus and RWA work fine with my Quad 21L speakers?
What should be my expectations after I replace the current preamp section in the NAD with Promitheus Ref TVC? Will the sound step-up be huge or slight?
Is this the right approach, or should I just upgrade to a better integrated amp (like Primare, Creek, Musical Fidelity, etc)?

Thanks much.
128x128milpai
clio09
3,342 posts
 
Let us know how it sounds after you've let it settle in a bit.
milpai's avatar
milpai OP
2,313 posts
 
The TVC was supposed to be delivered today. But man...I missed the DHL delivery guy today. Will have to wait till Monday for their second attempt. DHL does not have the option wherein, I can take the delivery attempt ticket and collect the package myself. Oh this is killing me!!!!!!!!!
milpai's avatar
milpai OP
2,313 posts
 
Ngjockey,
The source in the case of Promitheus TVC does not seem critical. I get my moderate listening volume even if I use an iPod and the volume knobs set at position 10 of the available 24 positions. I believe it is the power amps's input sensitivity that matters in this case.

Mariusz,
I did not need any gain and the TVC worked fine as a preamp for my NAD's power amp section.

Clio09,
You were right. The input sensitivity of the NAD was fine for the TVC.

I am extremely happy that I decided to go with the Promitheus TVC. It has matched very well in my system. The initial hours were not enlightning. But after 40 hours I was surprised with the performance of my NAD!! Yeah, I know that the TVCs do their magic, but I did not think that the NAD was capable of handling that magic. Of course the full potential of the TVC cannot be handled by the NAD. I require a separate power amp for that.

I plan to start a thead later in May after I have done some critical listining with the Promitheus. This will not be a review - but a pointer to all integrated amp owners who have the capability to use a external preamp/TVC. I was so fraustrated searching the web for such a combination. The closest I came to was at a mention of how a person used his TVC set to MAX and then control the integrated amp to control the volume. That was certainly a waste of TVC - I thought.

Anyways, I keep getting surprised by the TVC - the more I listen to it and find certain nuances in my system that I never heard before. More later.
jaspert
157 posts
 
I also bought a pair of Ref C-Core TVC unheard a few months ago and i'm using it in a system that is not ideal for passive pre setup due to lowish input impedance of my Bel Canto Ref 1000 monoblocks and inefficient Dyanudio Confidence C1 speakers. But it works and works well to my ears especially with >100 hours use. Natural sounding with good resolution.
It would be interesting to hear of your impresison later.
milpai's avatar
milpai OP
2,313 posts
 
Jaspert,
I have added a review of the Promitheus Reference C-Core in the reviews section.
More to discover