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Well, I decided to get an Audio Illusion M 3A

lately I had a few posts in the amp /preamp topics. As I have decided to jump from a Rogue cronus magnum (for sale now) to a tube preamp and a ss amp. After reading several reviews and talking to the folks at AI, I bought a M3A completely refurbished , new tube and 1 yr warranty. Since my Counterpoint days, I love the idea of separate power supply. Now come the ss amp. with a budget of < $3K . My speakers are Vandys 2Esig, which I want to keep for now. To all resourceful readers, what amp do you recommend. some choices may be parasound and Bryston. If you had experience with an AI preamp please state so . thanks for your imput.
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georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

A great tube pre one of the best I’ve heard, probably because they run the 6DJ8/6922 quite hard, my mate gets around a year out of them, he says his favorites in order are RCA, Siemen, Telfunken, as he says they are the cleanest sounding to him, I say, that’s because they’re closer to a solid state sound to him, and he hates that.
The Vandy’s have a rep for "sometimes" sounding a touch laid back, Parasound Halo A21+ would be great I think

Cheers George
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tonykay
1,302 posts
 
Years ago, I bought an Audible Illusions 2D to pair with my Classe DR-15 amplifier. I sold it to buy a DR-6 preamp, but I missed the sound of the tubed AI. Recently, I bought an Audible Illusions Modulus L-1. I’m not a Stereophile or Absolute Sound reviewer, but the combo of the AI and the Classe sounds great to me. The bonus for me is that the L-1 features a headphone amp in place of the phono preamp. My speakers are Sonus Faber Electa Amators, and my source components are Oppo 105D and Nakamichi RX-505. I’m still searching for a new turntable since selling my much-loved Luxman PD-444..
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,868 posts
 
Does the AI still provide 30dB of gain in both phono and line stages? For some people, that's too much line and not enough phono. I have a Modulus 2 modified by Ric Schultz of EVS. Ric worked for Art for awhile.
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