Nah. Get a preamp that offers the best of both. A preamp is the heart of the system, it can make or break it. Get the very best you can afford.
Anyone using 2 preamps in their rig?
I see lots of guys with more than one set of speakers, Dac’s and turntables…what about Preamps? I’m not ready to part ways with my Levinson 380S but I’ve been looking hard at the Allnic L-1500 fully balanced tube linestage. I’m thinking I could stack it on top of the Levinson and just swap the XLR’s when I want to listen to it.
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Always spend more on the preamp , everything downstream will benefit and quality sources will not be shortchanged by the most common bottleneck in HiFi.... mediocre preamps. I just sold a Zesto Leto. That was the best sounding preamp I have ever owned , used , or had any experience with. I am having a Toolshed 101d DHT Line Stafe built and if it is half as good as the 300b amp they built I will be in a good place. I am using an old Sonic Frontiers preamp for now and it's a few steps backwards but it does the job. Whole Soundstage caved in and bass is kind of flabby compared to the Zesto. Everyone in the DAC with volume camp that has done away with their preamp has probably never had an outstanding preamp , because if they did they couldn't live without it. |
You know…I was wondering about this very idea. But with a good solid state and an equivalent in quality tube preamp. I’ve been jonesing to get an SPL Elector, but also see some very nice tube pre’s I’d also like to own. Would be a fairly simple process, as long as you’ve got an an amp (or amps) with more than one input. Personally, going to start with the Elector. |
@yyzsantabarbara I like your approach. I find myself wondering, “What if . . . “ a lot of the time, and I’m convinced that the preamp is the heart of a system, and I have a really good one, too; but it is solid state, what if . . . I used a tube preamp instead for example. There are many who feel the preamp should not color the sound, that it should help the user match levels from disparate sources to the amp & speakers. I suppose that is the best way. I do know that I expect my preamp to make my life easier, not more difficult. |
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