Don Sach's pre amp

@gryphongryph ... thanks.

rlb61,
We will await your comparison of Don's latest preamp to your BAT preamp, which even at pretty much twice the cost of Don's preamp, will be worthy comparison.  There is magic in his 6SN7 tubes!  I had a pair of Joseph Audio RM25XL speakers that for some odd reason I parted with, selling the to Don Sachs, actually.  

I heard the Pulsar's at an audio show powered by a Rogers tube amp and the bass response simply defied belief... similar in performance to the Dynaudio C1's, but with better LF response.

Asghar,
The upgrade of Don's new caps and the rewiring of the preamp to accommodate the more potent 6BY5 rectifiers is something your system would benefit from... it is an easy 10-15% improvement... the instruments much greater spatial definition.  I will be in touch with you after Don's tube amp is run in properly.  We will have fun comparing it to your fine Quicksilver mono block amps.  :-)

Hi all,
I have modified the preamp to take a 6BY5 rectifier because it sounds better and you can source 6BY5 tubes for $12 or less. If you own one of my preamps and pay the return shipping I will modify it for you and provide a 6BY5 tube for $75.   If you own an SP14 kit or any other version of this preamp, please DO NOT JUST PLUG A 6BY5 TUBE INTO YOUR PREAMP AS YOU WILL DAMAGE IT AND IT WILL NOT WORK!   This modification is something I developed for my customers only. I will NOT share the details and I will NOT modify any preamp that I did not build. Sorry, but this is what sets my gear apart from the kit versions.  I have gotten notes from a few people who have built the kit version and asked for the recipe.  No, sorry, but I do not share any of my mods.

Guys,

I received my modified DS2 last week with Don’s latest Polish made Deulund copy oil caps and 6BY5 rectifier and it sounds amazing! I am hearing more transparency, better sound staging and imaging, more depth, lower floor noise, more air/ambiance. Bass is tighter, midrange is purer/more organic but you are going to be knocked over by its ”HOLOGRAPHIC” presentation; sounds emanating beyond the boundaries of my loudspeakers…

It is astonishing how you are immersed into the music with Don’s DS2 Tube Pre; his original DS2 is Amazing but the updated version is “UNBELIEVABLE”! For those of you who are in the market for a new pre-amp, I highly recommend that you put this pre on your short list. If you already own one of Don’s creations, get this updated version done ASAP!

I am not aware of any mods that can radically change the sound of a system for a very small investment. Act now and get your units in or orders placed soon… 

Wig :)

If anyone is still around...

Giving a lot of thought to Don’s preamp. But do have some questions before I call him:

- Tonally: "neutral" or some degree of warmth (short of classical tube sound)? I don’t like what most people call neutral, which I find cool and uninvolving once the marvel at PRAT passes.

- I have a Lampi Atlantic TRP dac, which with some tube rolling I find much better than the very good DirectStream -- except that I have active ATC speakers that are balanced (10K impedance) and one set of my Lampi’s outputs are faux-XLR, i.e., unbalanced. I’ve had some mismatch problem running from those directly to the ATC’s in terms of hum/buzz. We’re working on that now. But if I add the Sachs preamp in between with its unbalanced outputs, should I expect to face the same problem?

- Is a remote standard?

- What does the preamp weigh? How tall is it with tubes?

thanks,