2. amps-preamps
  3. 1311730684

A bit overwhelmed, need preamp advice

Hello! New Guy here...

I think the pre-amp must be the most challenging component to buy. It's like the master controller and brains of the whole system and I am having a hard time with narrowing my choices down and was looking for some advice.

When I setup my home theater system it was a much easier decision and I ended up with a Proceed AVP-S. Well, I've been selling all my HT gear and want to move back to a simple but very musical two channel setup.

Speakers are Snell B-Minors, my amp is a Bryston 4B-SST, and the front end is a California Audio Labs CL-25 but I am getting rid of the Proceed and the Cal Audio and moving to a RAID1 music server setup that I've built and ripped my 2000 CD's to Flac with exact audio copy.

I need to find a replacement for the Proceed and the only thing that will be connected to the pre-amp is a Musical Fidelity M1DAC.

The Proceed is a little on the dry analytic side, and I was looking for something that would add a bit of warmth, focus and 3 dimensionality and better depth and soundstaging. But not too much warmth and bloom!

One of the challenges is that whatever I get, the bass has to be pretty controlled which is why I got the Bryston. The Snell's have a 12" woofer and the Bryston is able to really take control of it.

My budget is about $1500 usd and I'm looking for some suggestions.

I was thinking of the Rogue Metis Preamplifier with the Magnum upgrades for $1,495.

Or the Placette Passive linestage with the remote for $1595.00

I was hoping I could get some thoughts from folks that have had these and let me know what you thought. The other thing is what are the downsides to a passive linestage? I've heard you give up dynamics for transparency and I'm not sure I can live with that.

I listen to literally all kinds of music so a good soundstage, accuracy, musicality, and dynamic range is important. Sorry for rambling but please chime in if you have any thoughts.

Thanks,

David
davidwjones
edorr
714 posts
 
In my estimation, if you have a DAC worth $500 used and $1,500 to spend, you are better off selling the DAC and getting a better dac with volume control if you have no need for switching through a preamp.

An asynchronous USB dac with volume control you would get better result in a computer audio only application. The obvious condidate would be the wired4sound dac2. Another option would be a PS audio perfectwave DAC with bridge as music server. I use this myself and recently did a shootout between DAC direct and running it through my $10K Modwright 36.5 LS/PS tube preamp and it was a very close call.
mcondon
235 posts
 
A few thoughts...first, I agree that you should look for a better DAC. The PW DAC (used) or W4S DAC2 would offer a lot of bang for the buck in your system. Second, I don't like going amp direct from a digital source. Digital volume controls are often lousy and I always find the sound quality to be too sterile. I have similar feelings about passive preamps. If you want to experiment with a passive, I would order a Lightspeed Attenuator before a Bent You could sell the Lightspeed in a heartbeat. Third, I would look for a tube preamp for your Bryston amp. Finally, I would avoid false economies. Sure, the Doge may seem like a bargain at $1500, but try selling it at anywhere close to that price. An Aesthetix Calypso, on the other hand, might cost $2000 or so used, but it will retain it's value. (When they come up for sale used, they are sold very quickly.). There is a very active thread on Audioasylum by someone who has had great success mating a Calypso with a Bryston SST.
emorrisiv
313 posts
 
My only rebuttal is that you rarely see the Doge for sale and when you do they sell for $1000-1200. The last one I saw sold in the first hour. I am sure a Aesthetix would be first rate too. I would love to hear one. Does the Calypso have a phono stage? I thought you needed a Rhea for that. Would love to hear that too, especially with the remote control cartridge loading! Cool indeed.
btw I have my Doge mated up to a SS power amp and it works very well with my Acoustats.

great stuff
mordante
511 posts
 
Maybe not the answer you were looking for. But why not sell the Bryston and buy a good integrated amp? I think it is an audiophile thing to think that pre + power is always better then a integrated amp. But i personally think that when you are not in the market for the super expensive, say Boulder, Soulution etc Integrated amps will out perform pre + power.
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ncarv
983 posts
 
Emorrisiv, the Aesthetix Janus combines the Calypso and the Rhea into one complete pre-amp. Usually runs ~$3500 used.
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