preamp

vishu
Focal sopra N3. Sonically not fully satisfied.

It’s not the preamp that’s the problem. It’s a great amp the Auris Forte 150 tube amp, unfortunately it’s with the wrong speaker, which btw is also a great speaker but with the wrong amp..

These Focal’s of yours are a very good speaker, and though quite efficient at 89db and can work with amps of just 50watts they need to have very good current to get the best from the bass.

https://www.stereophile.com/images/417FSop3fig1.jpg
fig.1 shows, the Sopra No.3 is a difficult load for an amplifier to drive, with a minimum magnitude of 2.75 ohms at 96Hz and a combination of 4 ohms and a –56° electrical phase angle at 68Hz, both frequencies where music can have high levels of energy. Because the magnitude is considerably higher in the treble, the speaker will sound brighter when driven by tubed amplifiers

You need an amp that is >50w into 8ohm and can come "close" to doubling that 100w into 4ohm and again 200w into 2ohm to get the very best out of these Focal Sopra 3’s.
That means solid state amp or a big tube amp with low output impedance that has a 2ohm speaker tap.
As that minimum impedance and - phase angle the Sopra’s have in the bass, can look like a 2ohm epdr load to the amp.

Cheers George

georgehifi

come to realize each component by them self are good , combining  them is the issue. I spoke to the Engineer at Auris he said ' great match with focal N3'. Just find the depression in the upper treble. I am not going to change my speaker or the amp  at this time, I am bent on trying different preamp. And try to test it with different speaker cable, presently I have the Transparent Audio. I like 80% try and get another 10% more than I am happy ( hopefully)

It’s not the preamp that’s the problem. It’s a great amp the Auris Forte 150 tube amp, unfortunately it’s with the wrong speaker, which btw is also a great speaker but with the wrong amp..

This statement is false. The speaker is an easy load for an amp like the Forte 150 (which behaves as a voltage source).
@vishu,
The web does not have a lot of information about this amplifier (including the manufacturer's website). Do you know if its internally balanced or is the XLR connection just there for convenience?

has your current system ever really sounded to your tastes, like when you first got things together?

just for kicks, maybe you can borrow another amp and this time an SS amp briefly and see the diffs for yourself. just as an investigative step before throwing more $$$$ at the rig.

  if indeed your amp is a solid mate in terms of current and impeadance a different preamp is likely not going to solve the issue

if you seek to attenuate or enhance certain sonic properties then a preamp may help. somewhat.

I would ensure first your amps IMP taps are set properly, 2, 4, 8 ohms etc as to the speakers nominal imp as best as your amp allows.

Iv’e had speakers that ran better on the 4 ohm tap, and some that ran better on the 8 ohm taps and both speakers sets were reputedly ‘6’ ohm nominal IMP according to the maker.

regardless where they are lower them to the next lower setting or raise them to the next higher setting and that will give you more insight to the situation.

just go real easy on the volume.

if that was a no go
I’d then look at rolling some tubes in the amp.

if you already have a tubed preamp then again, roll tubes there.

NEXT, I would try changing ICs, spkr cables, and or power cords thereafter.

THEN maybe if I were still dissatisfied with the highs and mids, I’d look at getting myself a different amp.

or at least one to just run the bass drivers.

power is a wildly used term here and its usual inference is aimed at drivability of what ever speakers. watts is what the makers give us in their opinions as their amps measuring stick for a general guide to matching them to speakers.

it takes current and or voltage to drive them essentially. if highs and mids are dull there may be a poor impeadance match upstream in the system. source to pre, pre to amp, or amp to speakers, or multiple mismatches. are present.

speaker makers as well give us their numbers for nominal IMP and so forth, and we are left up to find out for ourselves just how well our fav amp and fafv speaker like each other.

This connection reveals itself early on as to how well things willl be for the duration.

its a pityful case to expect things willl at some point changge from night to day suddenly from what we hear in break ins.

we can’t always go with what makers put on paper to match components properly.

sure hope things wind up the way you would prefer.