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Any active/passive preamps with penny & giles pot?

Hi,

I heard a DIY preamp that used penny & giles potentiometer at a friend's place, and to my ears it sounded awesome. Much much better than anything i'd heard before.

Now, i'm no good at DIY ... so i was wondering if it was possible to buy a preamp that used this potentiometer. Any of you folks know of any commercially available preamp that uses this pot?

Thanks!
cacophonix
goldlion
8 posts
 
I have a Wavelength Audio Sine with 6SN7 gain tubes, valve regulated, tube rectified and P&G pot - sweet!
larryi
4,098 posts
 
The P&G pot is generally considered to be a premium part. But, like any part, a good designer listens to the result to determine if that part works best, rather than picking that part because it is good for marketing purposes. I talked to one designer who was anguished about a particular, mid-priced pot going out of production. I thought he could substitute something like the P&G pot and he said that cost was not an issue; in his particular design, the cheaper pot sounded better. I wonder how many amps touting the extensive use of Blackgate caps and Vishay resistors were designed with these components because of sonic, versus marketing, considerations.
cacophonix OP
18 posts
 
Thanks for all your responses!
Joerg, you have an email. I'd be very interested in this preamp from horsh.
cacophonix OP
18 posts
 
Wow ... the prices on the preamps mentioned are waaaaay over what i'm willing to spend. I was hoping to see if there are any available < $1k, but looks like its highly unlikely. I'll bug my friend and check where he bought the P&G pot, and copy his DIY design.

I also read that there was an aragon unit that used the P&G pot. Hopefully one such unit will show up on Agon.

Thanks all!
m297904
93 posts
 
Aragon preamps used the P&G pot. On earlier models (18K, 28K) I think it was an option but the Aurum had it standard. Not sure about the 24K (Klipsch built unit?). This EBay guide has all the details of which has what:
http://www.reviews.ebay.com/Aragon-Source-Components-A-primer_W0QQugidZ10000000002098082
I hope this link works.

I have the Aurum and it is an amazing value for the money. MUCH better than the Adcom GFP-750 (even in passive), on par with the Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid (another GIANT killer). I am going to compare it to my Simaudio P5 next. So what does it do - nothing - just what a preamp is supposed to do. No coloration, no emphasis or de-emphasis of certain frequencies, just good clean sound!
Hope this helps.
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