I have owned Adcom amps and preamps. They were my first separates. I recommend buying better as soon as you can afford it.
Need suggestions on preamp
I’m mainly a headphone listener so when I got the chance to purchase a pair of Magnepan LRS speakers near my home town, I ran with it. I love Maggies and their midrange smoothness and live performance feel. I was able to find a used Parasound A21 for $1200 on Marketplace which was replacing my Adcom 545. I’m now running into a dilemma where I think the Adcom 545 sounded more detailed to me. I listen to a lot of instrumental music that I know well and I’m not getting the same level of detail as I’m getting with my headphone setup which is running balanced from my RME ADI-2 DAC. I’m using more expensive Audience AU-SX interconnects on those but even when running the RME direct into the amp (since it has volume control) I’m not getting the level of resolution I’m used to with my headphone setup (Hifiman HE1000 with a Serbian Audio HSA-1B amp).
I think the issue might be related to my preamp. I bought a Schiit Saga+ and despite running good NOS tubes or trying out passive mode I’m not getting the resolution I’m looking for. I’m looking for a recommendation on a preamp that costs between $1,000-$2,000 that will max out the resolution of the Parasound while keeping it’s effortless flow and naturalness in tact. Maybe the problem is the speakers and I really should have gone for the LRS+ or 1.7s? I know the room plays a huge role with Maggies but I live in a small apartment so for now I’m looking for any suggestions that can be fixed with gear. Thanks for any help!
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Everyone makes good points here. Perhaps comparing headphone resolution to speaker resolution for the same amount of input cost is silly. I had some custom designed Single Driver speakers based on Lii Audio paper cone drivers. They were almost just as picky but I could get the detail I wanted out of them for around the same price ($1000 tube amp and $1500 for the speakers). I should probably just accept what the Maggie’s are good at and that’s midrange and get something like a Conrad Johnson or something. |
Given your headphone setup I agree with those believing it will be hard to match its resolution and detail with the Maggie LRS. If you want micro detail look at a used Ayre Acoustics K-5xe preamp. It is extremely quiet and detailed without being harsh. It is a balanced preamp, a good match for your system and better than your amp. You should be able to find one in the $1500 range. I’ve owned one for years and have rarely been tempted to switch. Read some reviews. |
@sameyers1 - what speakers and amp are you running with that preamp? Ayre stuffs looks to be a good value and fast, resolving, and clean which is what I would thought I’d be getting even with the entry level Maggie’s. |
I have a pair of Aerial Acoustics Model 8b floorstanders in a large room. They are relatively inefficient, 4 ohm speakers and power hungry like Maggies, but a more traditional 3-way rear ported woofer design. The amp is a well maintained Proceed HPA-2 (a Levinson design), putting out 250w/ch at 8 and 500w/ch at 4 ohms. The amp is a balanced unit like the Ayre preamp and they are a good match. I listened to Ayre amps when I purchased the preamp, but kept the Proceed. Felt it had a bit more meat on the bones, a more full bodied sound. You can find reviews of both the speakers and amp online. |
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