@palutena I don't mean recessed in a bad way to be completely honest. More of a descriptor than a negative mark. What type of music do you listen to? If there are varying and more real world instruments, I'd jump at the chance to hear it. I'm not a jazz guy so I can't comment there, nor am I a blues guy, but I did just pick up King Bee by Muddy Waters and the tonally accurate sound of the guitar, room interaction with his performance and instrumentation is just on another level on my H-3000. I feel Allnic is a brand I could stick with for a very long time, so I feel if you're looking for tonal accuracy and density, you can't go wrong. The one thing I'm not a fan of is the tanking of value when buying new. You will definitely be able to find a buyer but expect to lose a ton of the purchase price when going to sell. And I only purchased a transimpedance phono to hear what they sound like and to also see what cutting tube heat will do for my room. A definite move to suuuuper low heat and crazy dynamics, but I lost some soul, heart and richness in the process. Can be good or bad, but I'm struggling to even think of selling the Allnic. It really is that good. Plus, I haven't even gotten to the crazy rectifiers and Stillpoints yet. Time will tell.
Phono pre amp recommendations? - upgrading from ICON AUDIO PS1 MK II
hey everyone, I am kindly asking for your phono pre amp recommendations, especially if you have experience with my current amp (icon audio PS1 MKII).
for the first time in my audio journey right now my system is so close to perfect (to my ears) and im incredibly happy about that. my current set up is Marantz tt15 turntable with dynavector 20x2 cartridge, primaluna prologue premium integrated and elysian 4 speakers. its very transparent, detailed, smooth, open, and in my opinion pretty neutral. when I swapped out my phono pre amp for one that my friend made(also tube design), it was like everything came to life, I couldn’t believe I was listening to the same system as I was 5 minutes ago. everything had more weight, and was more life like, it was darker and yet more lively, the vocals jumped out in front: so detailed and life like yet smooth and warm and not edgy or sharp or fatiguing like I often hear. it is currently the sound I am chasing (my friend will not sell this amp, or make another one like it, some friend huh?).
can anyone recommend a phono pre in the 3-4k range that can accomplish most or at least some of these qualities? my conclusions are that the icon audio is great, tonnes of headroom, detail, smooth, super quiet, big soundstage, but that it is too neutral for my ears and system and not warm enough, or its too polite, it seems to disappear in the system which may be a great quality for some.
does anyone have experience with this amp and can make a recommendation for an amp that has more warmth richness and weight (and forwardness?) in the midrange without giving up the other qualities I mentioned? I’m not looking for that vintage mushy sweet tube sound, more looking for what I have with just a hint more of that magic lol.
a couple of amps I am looking into are the modwright ph9, lab12 melto 2, and Allnic h-5500 (although a bit out of my budget).
I would appreciate and advice you can give me or any experience you can share with me.
thanks so much
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@dentdog I think you've convinced me to pick up my long desired Shunyata Alpha XLR's to test. Im in trouble now.... |
+1 for audioguy85 's recommendation I have the Tavish Design Adagio , it uses 6 tubes for MM cartridges and adds Jensen SUT for MC cartridges ( upgrade to the 1 to 1.12 transformers ) . The great part about them besides the extensive variety of sounds you can achieve with tube rolling iare the resistance and capacitance switches up front with on the fly changing ! I found the capacitance switch very handy in determining the right sound with a Soundsmith MI cartridge . |
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