Spatial Audio Raven Preamp

Hi

The Raven gain is about 13.9 dB (5X voltage gain).  The RCA and XLR inputs have the same gain.  The Khozmo volume control has a very nice log taper and you should have good adjustability in most systems.  Not touchy.   

I would run XLR from DAC to Raven if you can, but it is not required.   It will generally sound better with most DACs.  Also, if you ever change amplifiers you can run XLR out to an amp with balanced connections.   The RCA output of the Raven will by definition have less gain.  That said, there is plenty of gain to drive almost any amplifier.  I believe Spatial has a return policy if it doesn't work in your system, but honestly, it will work well with most anything, single ended or balanced.

I have owned the Raven preamp now for about 6-7 weeks feeding a Pass X350.5 solid state amp.  Compared to my previous solid state preamp, a quite capable Ayre K-1xe, the Raven was better at everything but mostly in the areas of soundstage depth, image stability, 3-dimensionality, focus, clarity and tonal colors. However, I suspected that I wasn't getting everything the Raven was capable of  due to my interconnect cables which are a good value for their price but after having owned the much better Nordost Tyr 2 in the past, had certain limitations.  At the suggestion of Don Sachs I ordered up the top level 5.3 XLR anti cables from Paul Speltz and had them cryo'ed and burned in for 150 hours. They are used between my DAC and Raven, and from the Raven to the Pass amp.  Speaker cables are from Triode Wire Labs.  OMG!  The gains in clarity, transparency, speed, dynamics and image focus are off the charts.  Vocals are so clear that I can now understand certain words that I used to have to struggle to understand. My system now sounds leaps and bounds better than ever.  Even the wife agrees but don't tell her I have my eye on the Spatial Blackbird amps.  With a daughter getting married in the fall those will have to wait a while.

What you’re hearing is the Less Is More approach. A ultra-simple signal path, including the very straightforward cables.

Wires, a switched resistor volume control, transformers, and triodes.

@lynn_olson I’m a believer!  The Speltz level 5.3 XLR Anticables are very reasonably priced in my opinion and seem to be a perfect match for the Raven.  Talking with Paul Speltz about his cables and pickleball among other things was a pleasure.  Many thanks to Don for pointing me in the right direction.

@jc4659 So glad the anticables worked out for you.  Same setup I am running, with xlr from my Lampi Pacific 2 to the Raven and xlr to the Blackbirds from the Raven.  I am going to get Paul to make me speaker cables eventually when I get around to it.

It is always a bit of a stretch recommending cables because we all have our taste.  There are lots of very good cables in the world and people recommend them to me regularly.   I just tell folks what I am using that works for me.  I heard Paul's cables when Spatial used them in our demo in Seattle and I was impressed, so I bought some.  The Raven is very transparent and will certainly show you what your cables sound like.  I don't think Paul's cables really sound like anything, which is the best praise I can give anything.  They are just transparent without any trace of brightness in my system.     Glad they worked out for you.