2. amps-preamps
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seeking recommendations for a preamp

I've been lurking a while, but this is my first post. I will appreciate any advice given, and thank you for reading this.

My Kenwood C2 bit the dust. I have lost the right channel, and the input selector is also going out. I'm looking to replace it, and upgrade quite a bit. The wife has given me a $2500 budget, new or used is ok. I listen to Vinyl a lot, as well as my echo dot which is also plugged into my preamp with a headphone to RCA adapter. I'll list my other equipment now.

Completely rebuilt Altec A7-500 with all new parts from GPA
JBL L200s
Kenwood M1D amplifier
Homebrew rebuilt Monoblocks from Zenith consoles with EL84/6BQ5
Yamaha EQ
Thorens TD 318 with an Ortofon cart. Unsure which one as I am at work
SVS PB16 ultra

The room is 16 wide by 20 deep. I primarily listen to the Altecs and tube amps with the SVS sub taking up the slack in the bass from the A7s. Sometimes I listen to the JBLs driven by the Kenwood M1D. I notice that the echo dot sounds a lot better than my turntable, so I know I must be needing a better phono stage. I've tried swapping out turntables with a couple of Dual 1229s with Shure M97XE carts that Bill at fixmydual has gone through thoroughly so It's not isolated to my Thorens. I guess I' surprised that the $30 Echo Dot sounds so much better.  

I admit I don't have the best cables, and will upgrade those as I can. I feel like the preamp is the heart of the system so I want to make a good choice. I love Macintosh, based purely off emotion, but don't know if it's the best choice for my situation. I do not have a local shop to audition, and none of my friends are into audio. What preamps should I be looking at ??
128x128adrianleewelch
dorkwad
548 posts
 
The used AI 3A’s should go for $1200-1500. AI has refurbished units that they go over, clean and replace the tubes on for about $1600. Those units are very close to looking new. $1700 on Ebay is probably not a great deal. The double volume controls allow you to fine tune the balance if needed. Nice if you have a slight channel imbalance. It can happen sometimes in many different areas of your system. Adjusting 2 volume pots is pretty easy after a couple tries.   Call AI and talk to Art Ferris doubt the tubes they recommend.  They will be matched sets and will last a long time.  In the 23 years of owning the 2 AI preamps,  I only replaced tubes twice in the 2D and when I first bought a used 3A, right when I got it.  The previous owner said they could use a replacement.  For 6 years, there was NO loss of performance.  

Hope this helps.
Bob


adrianleewelch's avatar
adrianleewelch OP
74 posts
 
Question   I have a pair of rca splitters plugged into my current preamp with one set of RCAs going to the Kenwood M1D and another set going to my tube amplifiers. This way I just run whichever amplifier I want and leave the other one turned off. For example I may leave the Kenwood on and listen to my JBL’s or I may not turn it on at all and listen to my Altecs with the tube amps. The left Channel is split again so that I have an output for my sub. Am I messing with the output impedance that the preamp sees in a way that could be harmful ??
adrianleewelch's avatar
adrianleewelch OP
74 posts
 
I just got to thinking that which ever preamplifier I choose, I want to make sure that I don’t damage it. The Kenwood C2 was $150 so I guess it didn’t really matter but it may now.  
jllu
21 posts
 
@dorkwad the sound of an Anthem home theater receiver can’t really be compared to their dedicated two channel preamp. Those are meant for entirely different functions. There’s a lot more room for elegant design when not cramming in a bunch of circuitry for video and multichannel processing/amplification.

fwiw, Gene at Audioholics, who is a no-BS reviewer, liked it enough to purchase his review sample: https://www.audioholics.com/av-preamp-processor-reviews/anthem-str-preamp-power-amplifier

Assuming you can get one used at the 2500 mark I would put it up against anything solid state in that range. If you prefer tube sound you should go tubes of course - especially if you have room treatment. I used to have tube gear that I thought sounded fantastic, but my room produced too many issues for my setup to really shine. After applying room correction and bass management all my issues with fuzzy imaging and distorted bass were gone. I doubt I’ll go back to tubes until I can get a dedicated treated listening room.

adrianleewelch's avatar
adrianleewelch OP
74 posts
 
I love tubes. Love them. The Altecs midrange is amazing with them.  Room correction is something I’ve always been curious about though. I feel like I should have tighter bass with the SVS. It can be a little loose and muddy at times. Mids are great, highs are slightly rolled off, but at 50 years old, I can’t hear above 14k anyway.....but I’m sure there could be more sparkle and air up there. The 511 horns are known to fall short but I do at least have 802-8g drivers and new diaphragms as well as fresh crossovers with upgraded caps.   
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