2. amps-preamps
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Most Rockingest Preamp south of $2k used

I'm curious if anyone knows of, has heard about or owns a preamp that simply does the most justice to rock n roll, under $2k (or more) used. The one SS pre I owned (Odyssey) seemed a bit light in the mids and bass, arguably the two most important components to rock. Then I went tubes, and I think it's in the right direction. Regardless of SS or tube, I would think the ultimate rock pre would be a PRAT king, maybe even pushing the beat a little, certainly not laid back, with great bass, mids and dimensionality and overall musicality (vs analytical). Am I missing anything?

I'm tired of putting the cart before the horse -- researching what's for sale on agon as opposed to having a few models to look out for and keeping an eye out for them. Who's got a say in the most rockingest pre?
tholt
morgoth360
34 posts
 
Tholt what can you tell me about the Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 a friend suggested i give it a listen, i'm getting lots of suggestions but most of this preamps are either old or are only available online so it's not feasible for me to make comparisons, that's why i'm asking for your help also it seams like were both looking for similar results from our respective systems.
thanks
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Cary Audio SLP98l, no question, rock the house with tubes!!

Get a Cary SLI80 with some Klipsch or Tannoy's and you are rockin' old school.
tholt OP
551 posts
 
morgoth, haven't heard th SF stuff so I can't give you an answer. There seems to be some good suggestions here, and I stand behind my Rogue recommendation and I've read good things about Manley products. It seems that if a company has an element of fun to it, it will probably sound good with rock (go figure!). I'm also intrigued by the Juicy Music Peach. The looks are questionable (WTF ugly??) IMO, but the comments seem to cite characteristics that make me think it would be a good pre for the job.

As I've recently learned, impedance matching pre to amp is also important. Make sure if you get a tubed pre mated with your SS amp that the ratio of output to input is around 10-1 to start.
tholt OP
551 posts
 
I'll add that old doesn't necessarily mean bad.
morgoth360
34 posts
 
What i meant by old was that you cannot audition as easily as a new model, it's just harder to find places were you can listen and compare audio equipment.
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