Apt-Holman pre-amp

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.

i'm with dcaudio. i bought an original model apt-holman new in about 1979-80. even then, it was cosidered to be the sort of "good value" product sam tellig (the "audio cheapskate") would prefer. it was never on the cutting edge of the highend.

Within the past few days, I saw a PS Audio 6.0 on the 'net for $200.00. I owned one of these several years ago and it was quite good. I would highly recommend this piece.

The APT Holman, developed by Tomlinson Holman, the TH in THX, was a well designed piece of equipment that did a lot of things better than average, but never really excelled at any one thing. It was a very good utilitarian piece of audio equipment, but it is now sadly outdated. It would make a very nice preamp in a second system, but it is not anywhere near the reference quality equipment available today. It is a very good deal for a couple hundred bucks if it's in good shape. By the way, I owned one for almost 20 years, having sold it only two years ago. The Bryston BP25 which replaced it, admitedly at three times the APT's original cost, is far superior at resolving and playing music.

I also owned the Apt pre for over 20 yrs. I would agree with Madisonears that is was a very good piece of "utilitarian" audio equipment. Sound spectrum was very neutral from top to bottom and it had the dreaded "tone controls" that allowed correction of speaker/room deficiencies. Imaging and resolution were never it's strong points. For a tube preamp, try the Anthem Pre1L--new ones on sale by www.upscaleaudio.com for $579.