Audio Horizons TP 2.0 Preamplifier

Welcome Rhanson. Enjoyed your sense of humor in your post. Are you willing to share what pre you replaced, on or off post? Interested that you like the Amperex.

Sherod, The Siemens cca's I tried in position 1&3 were microphonic in my system. I tried Herbies tube dampers and they seemed to dramatically overdampen the sound and put me from row 4 concert hall to row 14.
I am leaning next to trying a matched quad of NOS gray plate early 60's Siemens E88cc's, but have not ruled out Amperex yet.

Joe, try the Amperex out. I'm anxious to hear your impressions. Also, Victor gave me the go ahead to post his e-mail regarding phase:

Hello Sherod,

Many preamps and many amps reverse the polarity. This becomes a problem only when the preamp does, as Joseph's does, and the amp does not. This issue surfaced only recently when Cedar got a new amp and unlike his previous one, it did not reverse polarity. Joseph had never mentioned this matter to me before or I would have added it to the owner's manual and the specs.. I will be sending out a notice to all past customers on this matter when Joseph returns and sends me all their email addresses..

Sometimes the amp manufacturer indicates this fact and sometimes the manufacturer does not. I recently revised the owner's manual to note this fact and will add it to the specs in the ads shortly.

The simplest way to tell is to reverse the polarity of your two speakers. When a system is out of phase, the sound will appear a little flat; imaging will also wander rather than snap into focus. On most quality systems, it is not hard to tell. a minute's listening will disclose whether you are in or out of phase.

I suggest that you reverse the polarity of your speaker leads and see what happens: if the sound seems dull and less alive and imaging wanders or is ill-defined, then you are out of phase.

Best regards,

Victor

Joe, if you paid a premium for those Cca's, send them back to the dealer for a replacement or refund. I have read that tube dampers can sometimes over-damp a system.

Welcome Rob to the most exclusive pre amp club in town.Having said that, what "capable" pre amp did the AH replace.Thumbs up on Maggies.

Rx8man,

The Amperex Bugle Boy's are more full sounding with warmer mids and a larger soundstage. Just more musical to my ears and better suited for a digital system with any component that may be a tad HOT.

Bill