I have the SIM audio p8, It's an incredible preamp The 740p is right behind it sound quality wise and I have no doubt you will be very pleased with it.
Pre Amp suggestions for Sonus Faber Olympica III w/ x250.8
Looking for some opinions.
Apologies if you see this post on another forum/chat.
I just recently acquired Olympica III’s. As an amp I have the Pass Labs X250.8. So for me, the Speakers and amp are on the warm side. I have a Sugden Preamp LA4 (Im not a fan of the volume control, also lacking detail, and is on the warm side, it is however very musical) I want to sell and change to one of the following and looking for some opinions to those that might have come across and tested these with Olympica IIIs and similar warm type amp. Hopefully trying to go a bit more to the neutral/warm side with the preamp.
Also, other suggestions are welcomed, but please note, I’m looking for used and I’m in Canada, so availability is going to be another key option. Looking in the 4000$ USD range. Also, want to have 2 XLR inputs and HT bypass option.
First is the Simaudio 740p, I have many other simaudio products and love them. So this might be top on my list at the moment. McIntosh C49 or C53 Solid State, not sure if this is too warm? I see a lot of SF owners with McIntosh, so wondering if this would be a nice good match. Pass Labs XP12 (sadly xp22 is out of reach $ wise) , mostly because it will match my amp, but might be too much on the warm side? not sure.
Audio Research would have been on this list, but used, is sold extremely high here in Canada, also, I want to try to avoid tubes if possible.
The reason I would appreciate opinions on this, is because auditioning any of these combos is close to impossible, Olympica IIIs are no longer sold. The best I could maybe get close to is the Nova III, but pass labs is not sold here except for one store, that doesn’t have SF or any of the other pre amp brands. So mix matching will be very hard.
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- 8 posts total
- 8 posts total