There's a fun thread on another forum roughly entitled "How much do I have to spend on a pre-amp to get one which sounds better than no pre-amp at all?"
Pre amps cost vs. value ... what I discovered last month.
Greetings all.
I’m a mastering engineer. www.magicgardenmastering.com . We use Acoustic Zen balanced cabling, highly modified Cary 211 FE tube amps, Bricasti M1 SE DAs and Joachim Gerhard’s Allegra speakers. TORUS balanced power comes 220 from the street. The room is excellent, and you would love to hear it.
For 15 years the pre amp/router was a Crane Song Avocet. I paid around $1800 for it.
Recently decided to try a couple of audiophile products in the pre amp stage and was shocked and saddened how bad they were. Yes, the studio designed Avocet has a relay click for each 1db step, and yes it has a rack mounted 2U body with a corded remote, but it’s clear folks are really getting taken to the cleaners on pre amps. The older and highly regarded Boulder 1010 (used price $5500), was just terrible, truly terrible. The new and fully broken in BAT vk-43SE (demo price $7500) was much better, but still had a cloudy tone as compared to the class A Avocet. Not sure if that’s the cap or the transformer, but it made everything less clear and more generic, more distant from the music.
That’s all. Happy listening.
I’m a mastering engineer. www.magicgardenmastering.com . We use Acoustic Zen balanced cabling, highly modified Cary 211 FE tube amps, Bricasti M1 SE DAs and Joachim Gerhard’s Allegra speakers. TORUS balanced power comes 220 from the street. The room is excellent, and you would love to hear it.
For 15 years the pre amp/router was a Crane Song Avocet. I paid around $1800 for it.
Recently decided to try a couple of audiophile products in the pre amp stage and was shocked and saddened how bad they were. Yes, the studio designed Avocet has a relay click for each 1db step, and yes it has a rack mounted 2U body with a corded remote, but it’s clear folks are really getting taken to the cleaners on pre amps. The older and highly regarded Boulder 1010 (used price $5500), was just terrible, truly terrible. The new and fully broken in BAT vk-43SE (demo price $7500) was much better, but still had a cloudy tone as compared to the class A Avocet. Not sure if that’s the cap or the transformer, but it made everything less clear and more generic, more distant from the music.
That’s all. Happy listening.
113 responses Add your response
"How much do I have to spend on a pre-amp to get one which sounds better than no pre-amp at all?" If all is impedance correct between source and amp/s. They sky's the limit, as no active preamp can equal the transparency/dynamics/lack of distortion, that direct source to amp/s feed can give. Adding a preamp in this case only diminishes and colours these parameters. Cheers George |
I don't disagree on paper that any preamp adds "something". That something can be a good thing. I like to pick the mix of tubes that suits my listening taste. My Linear Tube Audio MZ2 when used as a preamp is extremely transparent and distortion free. It adds a degree of 3D imaging that direct to amp alone can't match. By selecting the right tubes I've maximized dynamics and gotten the tonal balance I prefer. I've tried source direct to amp and it benefits having this extra "spice". On paper observations don't always relate to the best or preferred sound. |
Interesting complaint by the OP. Painting with a VERY broad brush. Interesting b/c a self-professed mastering engineer who,on the one hand, implies how expert their ears and audio equipment knowledge are. Yet, on the other hand, is unable to match a simple preAmp to their well-known 15 year old system. Then, on top of that, not only complains about it, buy blames their own inabilities on the entire audio industry, purporting that preAmp prices are jacked up and the preAmp manufacturers are either incompetent or audio-robbers. ??? |
kw6Brian pls try a Linear tube audio Micro z2 or Audible Illusion L3A or Cary Slp-98! Thanks Interesting I wondered the same reading this thread, and with those exact same units, and not the most expensive either. None of my own modified Cary tube amps sounded as well as I had hoped until a synergy occurred with a well modified matching preamp and the right NOS tubes. My buddy has the AI L3A and enjoy my upgraded SLP-98. Have not tried LTA yet. |
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