New Preamp from Musetec

Should be a competitor to the Holo Serene preamp. Which is a competitor to the Benchmark LA4 preamp. I own both of these.

Beautifully constructed preamp! Price?

The Preamp is in production and will be ready to ship in about 2 weeks.  The price is $4500 including shipping.  There will be a factory discount for early purchasers.

A detailed owners manual is here.  It did take a short while to download.  In the manual is a description of the metal remote control.

I have been a very satisfied user of this company's DACs through two generations and am the OP of a long thread over at digital.  I can answer questions about the company and the designer and the general quality of his work.  But I am not, myself, in the market for a preamp.  What I can say is that the designer is a music lover who judges each component, small and large, in his designs by listening carefully.  He seems to wind up using European components far more expensive than in competing designs at the price.

@yyzsantabarbara 

Hi there friend.

Given his pricing, and I have to emphasize HIS pricing because we know where he has been in pricing, he must be aiming a good deal higher than the preamps you name.

We'll not know 'till someone takes the plunge.  It would be great if his dealer in Indiana can get a loaner to send out.

The likely difference is that the Mustec maybe a bit warmer or smoother sounding. The 2 preamps I listed should be used if you do not want the sound of a preamp in the chain. That would be for any price of system.

The Musetec preamp does look amazing on the inside. Likely a great preamp.

@yyzsantabarbara 

I don't agree with your assessment if it is meant to say that the Benchmark (which I was familiar with) has no sound.  A straight wire with gain?  No coloration?  I don't think so.  It may be simply a matter of which components let the true music through.

I don't mean to dispute anything here.  Best we wait 'till someone tries the new preamp.

The Benchmark pre definitely has a “sound”.

One way I compare a pre to see if it adds to the sound is to compare a DAC with volume direct to amp and then with a pre. The pre that had the least additional sound to the system was the Benchmark LA4 and HPA4 preamps. The Holo Serene is very close to that but adds a hint of warmth.

The worst offenders for my tastes added both additional sonics to the mix and also hiss. I dumped a few preamps that did that.

@yyzsantabarbara 

Then it's hard to imagine two people more at the opposite ends of audio than you and me.  If you want a preamp that does not at all change the amp sound, and you seem not to need the gain, then why not just opt for a passive preamp?

It's not what a preamp adds, it's what it lets the amp reveal.  The purpose of a better preamp, at least as I see it, is to make the amp sound better that it would with another preamp ahead of it.  By better I mean to make what comes out of the amp sound more like live, unamplified, music.  A fine piano or violin played well should sound warm and smooth.  Same for a good voice.  Of course some musicians can make ugly sounds and a good system should reveal that too.  A better preamp, to me, is one that lets what's on the media come through the amp sounding more like the live event at the original taping.  A preamp's function, beyond switching, volume and remote, is not all that well understood.

I don't know anything about the Holo, but I have experienced Benchmark products over the years, including DAC and preamp.  They have a house sound, and have always had a house sound, and to me that sound is just clean, dull and electric.  No wonder, with their switchmode power supplies, chip op amps and heavy feedback.  They always measure very well and I know lots of critics and lots of people say they love them.  Not me.  

Just one opinion here, no more valuable than your own.

My opinion is of value only to myself and do not question others tastes. My need for a preamp is for 2 reasons. I listen to a lot of FM radio on the airwaves with 3 tuners (not streaming FM). I also found that all DAC volume controls were of lesser quality than the Benchmark LA4 and now the Holo Serene preamps, especially at low volume. I was thinking at one time of buying the Luxman c900u preamp but realized that I would tire of the added sonics.

I have gone through a lot of amps in the past few years and my fav are the CODA#16, KRELL Duo XD lineup, and the Benchmark AHB2. All of these amps sounded best via a preamp that I felt did not add to the sound. There are a few people on A'gon doing the same as me but with what seems like much more expensive amps.

I used to have the CODA 07x preamp, which people love and say sounds like tubes. It was OK for me but irritating in some ways, so I went back to the 1/3 the cost LA4 preamp. I have not been bothered with the sound since and have no need to ever change this preamp. This is paired with the great CODA #16 amp. 

Love my Musetec 005 DAC, excited to hear more about it. Sad they don't have it in black.

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has tried the new Musetec preamp with the D-005 DAC.  I'd also be interested to hear from those who have tried the Holo Serene preamp with the Musetec DAC.