Apt-Holman pre-amp

The auxiliary section of the apt holman is as excellent as any I have heard labeled specifically for CD. I actually did a side by side comparison with a couple of high end hybrids and liked the clarity of the apt. I currently have a holman for sale and am only parting with it as I am trying a home theater set up. It has been a delightful reliable pre amp that I would not have changed as I really like the sonic qualities. Build quality is top notch.I also recently had the unit cleaned and checked and it is up to spec.You could pay gobs more and get less.

I hate to rain on the beginning of a parade here, but when I replaced an Apt-Holman preamp by a PS Audio 4.5, I felt that I'd finally discovered the world of high end audio--the 4.5 was SO much better! I admired the logic and clarity of the A-H manual, and the apparent build quality (though I have no reason to suppose that other than generic resistors and caps were used), but I think the designers were of the "test bench" school, not of the "listen as we finalize the design" school. I might say that I was primarily interested in the phono stage in those days, and it's conceivable that the A-H was good as a line stage preamp and just poor in its phono stage. I have trouble believing it, but can't rule it out.

I had an Apt Holman long time ago. I replaced it with an Audio Research SP-10 pre-amp. The difference was night and day. The Apt Holman does not have a stable image. You can not tell where a voice is coming from. I feel the Apt-Holman must have done a great job on the reviewers. I do not consider it to be close to high end now, particularly since already in 1987 when I purchased the SP10 the unit was significantly inferior.