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New Schiit Freya or used Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL, or?

Looking to buy a line stage tube preamp with an $800 budget. Considering the options. I can use this preamp with either a Vincent SP-331 or McIntosh MC2200, whichever is a better match.
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erik_squires
15,880 posts
 
I really like the PV-10, as a fun, musical preamp but it is also a little noisy. :)

If I had one again I would mod it and reduce the overall gain significantly.

Best,

E
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Does re-sale matter to you? If you buy the  Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL used you can re-sell it for close to what you paid for. If you buy the Schiit Freya new and find it doesn't mesh well with your system your re-sale price most likely will be at a loss.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

A little more analysing here to find the best of what to choose from, instead of just plucking from the air.

If you look at the input sensitivities of both Vincent SP-331 or McIntosh MC2200, they need very little to drive them to full output, only 1.2v at (47kohm) for the Vincent and only .75v at (50kohm) for the Mac.

The Schiit Freya will be the best, a very good match for these in all modes, (passive, tube or S/S) as it have very little gain, which is a perfect match for these amps
.
The Conrad has way too much gain, and as a result the volume control will be very loud even down low in the range.

Cheers George
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