2. amps-preamps
  3. 998102392

What tube preamp to get to smooth out the sound?????

Hi have Wadia 850 cdp directly to pair of Odyssey Monoblocks, speakers are NHT 3.3's...Im very happy with the strengths of each component but recently sold a Adcom gfp 750 pre because all I listen to is CD, so I figure why not sell it and go direct..but the sound is not as good as when I had the preamp, direct sounds more hard/etchy , not as smooth as with the pre..I want to buy another pre but get something better than what I had before instead of SS was thinking of getting into tubes to get more warmth/smoothness I want to get rid of any harshness/etchines .... trying to keep it under 2k used, any suggestions from others who had this kind of problem I hear BAT is particulary good...
eantala
albertporter's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Actually, Weiserb's suggestion of Conrad Johnson is right on. That preamp is incredibly smooth, warm and dynamic, without any loss of detail.

Other options are the Counterpoint SA11, Atmasphere and older ARC (all tube).
jeffloistarca
1,004 posts
 
I think you'll find many of us agree with your hunch, BAT makes terrific preamps. I haven't heard all the BAT preamps myself, but I did switch from AR SP9 Mk II and AR SP14 to a BAT VK30 about a year ago. Awesome preamp, and around $2000 used is an incredible bang-for-the-buck preamp. My experience with BAT, you can't go wrong. Best, Jeff
angela100
435 posts
 
Sonic Frontiers Line 3 - great sound, separate power supply chassis and a really cool remote. Underwoodwally sells them on this site
http://gonmain.iserver.net/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ddpreatube&1002584213
We bought from his dad for a great price and he has taken over the business. And no I don't
"work" for him - I just like passing along a good thing when I know about it.
nh_fi
8 posts
 
Agreed on the BAT VK30, I have one too. Tube rolling from stock Sovteks to NOS Amperex 7308s made all the difference in the world. A great preamp became truly stunning. Every bit the equal of the vk50se IMHO.
sibelius
256 posts
 
I have been very happy with the AES-3 Super Pramp DJH model that I purchased from Upscale Audio. It is $1200 without remote and $1700 with remote. You probably will want to upgrade the stock tubes with some NOS, though. Works very well with the Odyssey Stratos.
More to discover