Aric Audio Systems Unlimited Preamp

sebrof,

Good to read that you like that JJ tube they sure look very robust and well built and not outrageously expensive.Are you using the 91a clone in a tri amp system.

kalali,

Wow that sounds awesome and I'll beat it will help both of your amps sound good.That middle priced unlimited is probably the best value in Aric's lineup in preamps.Did you get the remote option version.
You will probably get yours before mine so you will have to let us know how it works out for you.

I Thank You for finding this gentleman and hopefully by word of mouth in the Audiogon community we will keep him busy.

Kenny.

Kenny, I didn’t get the remote option since I hardly ever use the remote on my current (SS) preamp. As a  complete tube newbie I'm curious about his design and the tubes he uses in power/voltage supply and all the reasonably priced 12AX7 tube options available for future tweaking.
By the way, thanks for sharing the review link. I’m not expecting anything fancy as long as it has a nice warm sound.

Received the Unlimited preamp a couple of days ago and been playing it since. Really love the sound it makes. Its got that so called mid-range bloom and lush sound that folks have been taking about and associated with tube preamp. The detail is comparable with my other preamp - NAD C165bee, but the soundstage depth and the airiness around the vocals and instruments is noticeably more apparent. Listening to Madeleine Peyroux earlier and the presence is eerily real. The construction is fairly industrial and nothing special but reasonably well made. I guess this is as close one can get to an all tube preamp since even the power supply is tube rectified along with voltage regulator tubes. There's a knob in the back to control the output gain which is a nice touch and allows for matching the gain with the input sensitivity of the pairing amplifier. All in all very happy with the purchase and the timing since he raised the price by almost 35% just last week - $725 to $975. I've had a number of  email exchanges with Aric asking for tube recommendations and he responded within a few hours with great suggestions. I'm sure you'll be happy with your amp. He seems to be a real nice guy to work with.

Forget to add that the bass is also noticeably better. Can’t say if its tighter but its more apparent specially at lower volumes. Somewhere I read this might be attributed to the nature of the 5AR4 rectifier tube but I have no prior tube preamp experience to know one way or the other. And the preamp is truly quiet, not even the slightest noise, hiss, nothing, even with my ears right next to the tweeter.