2. amps-preamps
  3. 185222-161121

Budget preamp with quality volume control

Dear Audiogoners,

I used to be a firm believer that the signal path should be as short as possible and, as such, I have been using the two-channel system without a dedicated preamp. For a long period of time, I have relied on the digital attenuator in DAC for volume control, knowing the digital attenuator would compress the dynamic range of the sound. Therefore, I switch the volume control on DAC to the fixed mode, bypass the digital attenuation and use the unity gain knob in the back of the power amp for volume control. Depending on the music recording level, however, sometimes I need to turn the unity gain control way down to get proper sound level. This is particularly painful when I use the full-balance connection because of the double voltage gain.

In short, I am looking for a budgetary preamp with quality volume control that either has relay switch stepped control or precise potentiometer for left-right channel match to curb the issue. I try to summarize important (to me) performance catgories as best I can for various good sounding preamp I know (with or without headphone amp/dac) as shown below. It is found the Schiit Magnius happens to have the highest performance ratio. However, I am pretty sure that I likely miss other good performers due to my limited knowledge and would like to solicit for your inputs. Your kind assistance is appreciated.

 

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mitch2
4,044 posts
 

Music First Audio was an early adopter of the transformer volume control, or TVC.  I believe they use S&B transformers.  Transformers use two coils around a core and offer isolation while autotransformers, or autoformers, use only one coil and do not isolate but do apparently have a few advantages when used as volume controls.

Autoformers allow for the same voltage/current transformations that typical transformers are used for and have increased power handling capability, flatter frequency response, lower insertion loss and lower distortion than conventional transformers of similar size and cost.

I do like the Apple remote functionality with the icOn 4PRO.  I also like the large display that is so easy to see across the room.  Functionally, it offers everything I want in a preamp, including an HT pass-through.  I have not tried Music First or any of the other transformer VCs, so cannot make a comparison between autoformers and transformers in my system.

clio09
3,360 posts
 

Music First Audio is a subsidiary of Stevens & Billington which is why their products use those transformers in their design. When S&B used to let people use the transformers for DIY and OEM John Chapman at Bent Audio built a very nice passive preamp with them and when S&B pulled the plug on DIY and OEM he switched to the Slagle autoformers and developed his own module with relays. If you can find one of his preamps used it would be worth trying out.

I have and have had many passive preamps over time that used quality attenuation controls. Everything from a simple pot in the box using NOS Noble potentiometers to Khozmo, Slagle AVC, and S&B TVC passives (all of which I DIYed and all had dual mono attenuation). While all of them performed well for me, the best bang for the buck in my opinion is the one I didn’t DIY which is the Lightspeed Attenuator.

stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,475 posts
 

See if you can find an Ayre K1xemp ( its old but fabulous....)

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mike4597
105 posts
 

I had the Rogue RP-1 and found it to be an excellent preamp.  A modest windfall permitted me to trade it towards an RP-7, which I have found to a most excellent preamp.  While not exactly a “budget preamp,” the RP-1 is worthy of consideration, and, as you light out, it has a number of great features.

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