Recommended preamp for McCormack DNA-125??

I have recently purchased a 125 as well and am currently searching for a pre too. As you are probably aware, the McCormack is quite sensitive so it requires a pre with minimal gain.

Passive pre's, like FT Audio LW-1 (I just bought one, you need 2v output on your front end), McCormack make some nice ones themselves, the IRD Purist passive, and Placette, Bent, are some others.

For tubes, I am about to receive a Dodd Audio pre to demo. It is minimalistic, two sets of inputs and one output, has 15 db of gain, and costs $450. Not sure if it will work due to the gain though.

From my reading, many people use an Audible Illusions pre to match with the 125. The AI L1 model I know allows you to set gain for left/right channel.

Finally, I think the Decware ZSLA looks interesting, it is a tube buffer basically. Very minimalistic though, one input/one output though you can buy a switch box to add inputs.

Hope these ideas help,

The Audible Illusions L-1 is an excellent pre for any McCormack amp. It adds a touch of warmth to what is a slightly lean sounding amp. They do form a synergy that is hard to beat. Audible has introduced the L-2, which is a remote version of the L-1, with upgraded features. It uses an upgraded gain control but still allows gain adjustment before the master volume.
Don't under estimate how good the AI pre's are. These are still some of the best---period. At the used price---they can't be beat. A very high quality component using top notch pieces parts.

Hi Shane -

I just want to add a comment about gain. It is true that my amp designs are a bit higher in gain than most (although I see a fair number of both tube and solid-state designs at around the same gain, or higher). This means that - if you pair my amps with a high-gain preamp - you may have trouble listening at low volume levels *IF* your preamp has a conventional, rotary volume control. "Conventional" volume pots usually do not track well at either end of their rotation and they typically offer a maximum of -60dB of attenuation. In this case, you may find that your system gets loud very quickly as you turn the control, and it may be difficult to resolve very low volume settings. Whether this is true or not depends on several factors, including the actual gain of your preamp, the type of volume control used, the output level of your source equipment, the sensitivity of your speakers, and your own listening habits. It's a complex problem, and the only way to know for sure that a preamp works for you is to try it in your system. For instance, many people like the combination of the Audible Illusions preamps with the DNA amps but, to the best of my knowledge, the AI preamps are high gain AND use conventional volume potentiometers.

I think you should consider any preamp that looks interesting to you, but I offer the following observations:

1) A very low-gain (around 10dB or less) or no-gain (passive) preamp is less likely to suffer from this problem. The most important question still remains, though - does it sound good to you in your system.

2) More preamps are available today with high-resolution volume control systems. These are typically remote-control preamps with a lot of steps in the volume control - often 100 or more. This allows you to have a high-gain preamp and still have very fine volume control at any level.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your search - there are a lot of good preamps to choose from.

Best regards,

Steve McCormack
www.SMcAudio.com