2. amps-preamps
  3. 1080655145

Preamp selection advice for rock music.

I am seeking the collective wisdom of the Gon experts.
I do not have the ability to A/B my picks or to audition
them in my system. I am fairly new to this hobby too.
I have an Audio Aero Prima CDP feeding into a Rotel 1066
prepro. The amp is also a Rotel, model 1095, that is going
to JM Lab Electra 926 Speakers. I have the CDP connected to
the prepro through the multi input so as to avoid the Rotel
DAC's. Not sure if this has an affect on the signal.
I like to listen to classic rock mostly and am looking for
a preamp that will help some of the 'HOT' recordings sound
listenable. Mostly helping with simbalance of the recordings
from Led Zepplin, The Doors and etc. I enjoy the detail and
extension that the Audio Aero CDP gives me along with the
expanded sound stage and would prefer to keep these features. The tubes in the CDP helped some but I think that
a tubed preamp would probably do even more and help with the musicality as well.
The two preamp choices that I have made are the Cary SLP
88 and the Conrad Johnson PV10BL. They are available here
on the gon for about $1000.00 and that would be my price
limit, new or used. I also would like to keep an eye to the future upgrade of my amp the next time upgradeitis rears its
ugly head ! Does it ever end ?
Any other suggestions would also be welcomed. HELP !!!
saki70
tombowlus
416 posts
 
So are you hoping to keep the RSP-1066 for HT, and add a 2-channel preamp? Or are you abandoning multi-channel and going dedicated 2-channel? I also have the RSP-1066, and while I feel that it is a top unit in its price range, I have been hit by the upgrade bug pretty hard, and I am looking to either add a high end 2-channel pre or (more likely) get a top pre/pro with respectable 2-channel performance (like Krell HTS 7.1 or Theta CasablancaIII).

If you are doing the 2-channel route, but still want to use your Rotel for HT, make sure that whatever preamp you pick up has a "processor" or "HT" pass-through. I know that all newer Audio Research preamps have this, and I would think that a used Audio Research preamp with this option would be a tremendous upgrade for you. Bot the Cary and the CJ are going to sound pretty nice, too, but I don't know about the pass through. If you were going to try and upgrade to another pre/pro, if you sold your RSP-1066, and added your $1,000, you could problably pick up a Theta Casa Nova, which are sonically very excellent, but going for a song because they are only 5.1 channel (and have no muliti-channel input).

Good luck, Tom.
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
I would try not to alter the signal coming from the Audio Aero. If you can pass the signal through your pre without alteration, and this means also trying not to change it into multi-channel.

I do suspect that, given the greater amount of information coming from your Audio Aero, you would still get a very decent result should you change it to multi-channel; I just woudld't do it.

I would only use a pre as a gloriied switch box and resist using tone/bass controls, etc.
beatlebum
183 posts
 
Saki70,

I'm in agreement with what Unclejeff's suggesting. To that end, I love my Blue Circle 21.1 tubed linestage preamp (with Shallco attenuator and NOS tubes). Very musical, big soundstage and fun to roll tubes with.
saki70 OP
907 posts
 
Some great responses from the pros !
I intend to keep the 1066 for home theater use and was just looking for a preamp that would tame the simbalance of some of my many classic rock CD's. I put the Audio Aero into
the multi input of the 1066 to avoid the DAC's of the 1066
when used in the CD input mode. This was the only thing that
I could think of to do to avoid using the Rotel DAC's.
Am I understanding some you correctly, when you say, that
the Audio Aero is outputing more info than my amp 'and' speakers are capable of handling ? I thought that the JM Lab
Electra speakers werea pretty decent items. I know that the amp is now the weaker link in the system.
Thahks for all of the great info. I really have learned a lot reading these forums.
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
Your Audio Aero is a great source as it is a match for just about any analog amp made. As a matter of fact there are some test CDs that push the limits of speakers especially at the high end(tweeters) and they come with a disclaimer that says if you use this test CD at a fairly high volumn you can do damage to the speaker that is not built to handle the range, even when putting 100 watts into a 300 watt rated speaker. Take this test Cd and put it into an audio aero and you will amazed at the extraordinary range you get.

I was playing with one using my McIntosh 2102 amp a while back and it reproduced a window breaking and I actually found myself ducking what sounded like a rock coming through my plate glass window!
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