Both Ear Yoshino and Audio Note have distinctive warm sound and these two UK manufacturers are cherrished by french audiophiles. Their gear sounds much better than any McIntosh, Carry or AR I can think of. We also have here Jadis and some other highly appreciated names. French audiophiles love tubes. For many of them Ear Yoshino 912 is the Holy Grail in tube preamplification, which I have owned too. Very nice and warm sound. However, I personally use today Atma Sphere gear, wich is in my humble opinion even better. It is made in USA. So my first choice would be Atma Sphere MP-3, and second Yoshino 912.
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Hi @smodtactical, I own three old Arics preamps. A very early 3.5 I think it is,an Unlimited ( it’s a 12a?7 based pre. Aric’s preamps are a tube rollers dream) and a Motherlode II. I find the Unlimited to be more on the warm side than the Motherlode II. The Motherlode II is neutral with just a sprinkle of warmth. This pre is also VERY responsive to tube rolling. I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing your Pass Labs amp,however if it has any of the same DNA as the First Watt amps,it will be a joy to listen to. I hope I answered your questions.
Ray |
@smodtactical Just to chime in, the Super, ML II and ML XL (balanced version) are all designed for a neutral and fast sound, with enough warmth to smooth out a solid state amplifier and a couple of mods can be made to provide more of a warm sound. Takman carbon comp resistors, V Cap Odam coupling caps and a slightly lower operating voltage will achieve this. I've had several customers request this to help with taming an apparent stridency or sharpness in their systems. Best regards, Aric |
I am using a McIntosh C2300 tube pre (into a McIntosh MC152 ss) and really enjoy it. They run about $4k, and I’ve worked with Audio Classics in Vestal NY for all my used McIntosh gear - always had a great experience I occasionally swap amps and use a Will Vincent pp EL34 - the tube/tube combination stills retains “crispness” and is not overly warm, to my ear (shout out to Will Vincent, another individual tube amp maker creating beautiful pieces for all of us to enjoy - his handle is @autospec ) Let us know what you decide & have a great day! |
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