Well, I'm now off that kick of thinking of a new amp. I know this sounds crazy..I had my ears deep cleaned. Lots of wax. Now my system sounds perfect again with all kinds of music. I still, however, am thinking of a Mac c2700 preamp
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I continue to marvel how great the J2 sounds. Jazz, Metal, Classical, even electronic music (maybe not as snappy for electronic...but close enough). I was playing 24/96 of Led Zeppelin 1 and was really cranking the amp (89 on BHK volume meter), this thing is so distortion free it is scary. Plus, I had more room to go if needed. Right now, outside a dedicated streamer (vs computer) and more room treatments, I do not have the urge to do any upgrades. Certainly that will change eventually, I really feel I got everything system wise dialed in perfectly. |
aberyclark OP For even more naturalness/transparency The First watt has an input impedance of 100kohm which anything can drive, and 20db of voltage gain, and your Zu Omen are 97dB!!! You "could" very well lower even more the "electronic signature" count by flicking an unneeded preamp, and feeding your source be it dac or phono stage into a $49 Shiit Sys passive preamp with no electronic signature, and your sound could get even more transparent, if the gain is still enough. https://www.schiit.com/products/sys Or if your dac/cdp has level control try it direct into the J2, without using the Sys even. Cheers George |
I recently picked up a J2 as well. I rotate it thru two systems. One of the ways is through passive preamp. This setup usually consists of 90db speakers,and really works well for my needs. Running 97db speakers will really work great! I tried the sys to see if it would work for me. Within a week I purchased a Prometheus TVC pre that I use to this day. |
I purchased a Prometheus TVC preTVC passives have a little coloration just like LDR passives compared to a Sys or going direct, probably suits your preferred system/room balance, but still more transparent, less noise, and less distortion than a active preamp. If you have the gain/speaker efficiency, then all passives will better the transparency/noise floor/and distortion. Only going direct is even better, but it has some proviso’s, re starting to "bit strip" (less resolution) if using the digital domain volume control below 75% of full Cheers George |
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