2. amps-preamps
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Preamp Sibilance?

Hi all; first time here with a question that maybe I can get some input on.

prior to a recent purchase, my gear was an auralic g2.1 streamer feeding a sonnet Pasithea DAC feeding Triode Lab 45 monoblocks into some large Joseph Crowe horns… and this system sounded fantastic. 

 

I Wasn’t really looking for any sound changes BUT Then  I decided I wanted to try out adding a turntable to the mix, which meant I needed a preamp as a control unit and so looked for one that had a reputation of being transparent and not coloring the sound. I landed on the Halo Audio Serene Kitsune edition. With the Serene in place, For 90+ percent of the music I listen to this was a notable improvement including a step up in image size, bass weight, fullness, and resolution; however for that other percentage I now hear a level of silbilance that kind of ruins it for me.

the Serene has about 100 hours of playing time so far and I would have expected most of the break-in time to have passed.

Prior to using the Pasithea as a DAC/Pre, I had a Don Sachs Model 2 that I really enjoyed, but ultimately sold because I preferred the DAC direct sound. I heard no hint of Sibilance with the DS pre or with the Pasithea  by itself.

so I guess my question is, have others experienced this with either this preamp or with other preamps?

Is this preamp just not the right paring with my triode Lab 4wpc monoblocks?

is it possible or likely that more breakin time is needed?

Other than giving this a bit more time, are there other recommendations, such as swapping cables or interconnects. For reference all cables are duelund 16ga tinned copper cotton/oil.

 

Thank you in advance 

Glen

glenmschneider
yyzsantabarbara
5,059 posts
 

I owned the Holo Serene KTE for about 2 to 3 years and sold it a few weeks ago. I liked it a lot, but it went down the totem pole in stature for me when I took it to my friend's place and compared it to his hand built pre. His pre was just a stop gap unit to test the open baffle speakers he is creating. His pre was so much more transparent than the Serene. I was shocked and disappointed.

However, I never heard any sibilance on the Serene when it was hooked up to my CODA #16 amp and Yamaha NS5000 speakers. It was a little warm and I was not sure if that was the best sound for my tastes. These questions only came about after hearing my friend's preamp. So, for my experience sibilance is the last thing I would say about the Serene.

I now use the Benchmark HPA4 (same as the LA4) in place of the Serene. I realized that I like the extra bit of clarity I get with this setup. Again, no sibilance with the setup either.

FYI, I ended up replacing the Serene with the $799 Schitt Kara F preamp. Which also allowed me to sell the Schitt Mjolnir v3 preamp. I sold it yesterday and that is a very warm Class preamp + headphone amp. 

I would not say the Kara is better than the Serene, but I like how it sounds on my RAAL SR1a earphones + Schitt Aegir v1 amp and also Magnepan Mini speakers + Schitt Wotan amp. I tried the Serene in this setup before and it was very good, but the Kara is preferred. The Serene is more transparent though the Kara is pretty good there too.

 

 

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bolong
725 posts
 

Like the man said, give the Serene another 100 hours. I put an Audio Magic M2 fuse in mine also - a fuse that has a marvelous way with treble excess.

glenmschneider OP
42 posts
 

@ghdprentice - Thank you. I've seen you say this many times before in many situations and I will definitely give it some more time and track progress.

@bolong -  Thank you for the fuse suggestion and recommendation. I hope I dont have to go down the fuse route to solve this problem but I may give that a shot if other options don't work. The reviews I looked up seemed very favorable.  

@yyzsantabarbara I appreciate sharing your experience.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,330 posts
 

If you want a great preamp that checks all the boxes the Linear TubevAudio

micro Z-OTL. Is a great preamp and you have up to 4 tube types and characters  to choose from , great parts quality throughout.  David Berning design ,

then LTA worked to make this current  model even better ,

 passive preamp sections or Using alps,Bourne type pots you loose tons of detail 

a resistive ladder,relay type is optimum , I am using Rays select 6sn7; tubes

and top Medical grade Telefunken 12au7 tubes  Hifi tuning supreme fuses , even feet make a difference the isoacoustic Bronze are a great value.

and excellent AQ Tornado source power cord , it’s a exceptional preamp for around $8k with power cord and tubes can go toe to toe with preamps much more expensive that in our audio circle have compared them with. It’s a Essential part of the Audio chain to  voice  and control Everything to your Loudspeakers.

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