2. amps-preamps
  3. 1209044329

Help with finding ultra-transparent pre-amp

I got a new player, Wadia 581i SE, and once I hooked it up directly to amps I realized that my pre-amp is not transparent enough.
To make a long story short, I would like to find a very transparent pre-amp to be inserted between player and amps (no coloration, no shift in tonality, and no loss in dynamics, micro or macro), that would result in a sound indistinguishable from the sound of my player going directly to amps.
Essentially I want a wire with attenuation control. Balanced connectivity is preferred.
I tried a transformers based passive pre-amp (it was a custom, very well executed job), result was not good, not only that it killed dynamics and resulted in a dull and uninteresting sound, but transparency was in fact worse in comparison with my present pre-amp.
Is there such a transparent pre-amp, or it is just a pipe dream?
The cost is of course to be considered, I would not go for anything that is more than let’s say 3.5K, new or used.
I have been reading about Placette (resistor based), has anyone had any experience using it in a system that has very resolving front end?
The rest of my system:
Bryston BP26 pre-amp
Bryston 7B SST amps
PMC IB2 speakers
sashav

Showing 1 response by ptmconsulting

ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
There are preamps that are detailed and apparently transparent and dynamic, and then there are preamps that can convey the texture of the instrument's sound as well as the inner details and dynamics. I would hope that the latter is what you are looking for. The best ones that I've foind seem to be tubed.

There was an Audio Prism Mantiss silver signature preamp here on Audiogon that would be a steal, and it has all the attributes I speak of. It is a bit old these days, but an amazing preamp none the less.

Enjoy,
Bob
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