Preamp Deal of the Century

Slowhand, I notice that the input impedance of the AR 100.2 is significantly higher than that on my bryston (150kohm unbalanced and even higher balanced). The Bryston's input impedance is 50kohm unbalanced and 20kohm balance. Will the lower input impedance adversely affect the matching of the Bryston with the Supratek? Thanks. Tom

I've had my Syrah up and running for about two weeks now and it's glorious. However, one problem I've found is that I'm getting quite a bit of hum from the phono stage setting. I'm a newbie to vinyl, so am not sure whether the phono stage is buring in, or whether there are some ground issues. Even after disconnecting my turntable from the Syrah (interconnects and ground cable), the hum is still fully there. It could be that the Syrah is close to the floor - it's on a wooden slab on the floor, with three brass cones seperating the Syrah from the wood. Also, I just got new FIM Gold power cords on my power amps, so maybe they're just burning in, and having an impact on noise at this point. I just rearranged my components, so it's hard to attribute sounds & hum to any particular change I made. The hum was there when I first got the preamp (in phono section only), but seemed to dissipate over time. Now it seems to be back in full force though. HOpefully, the hum will go away following further break-in, but I wanted to check whether others have experienced the same issue. I'm keen to get the vinyl rig going with minimum hum and background noise. Thanks!

Outlier, shpouldn't be burn in or PC's on amps, etc. - that's too noticeable for that. Etthan contacted me and said he was having hum problems too, so you may want to talk with him about what he's doing. Its usually grounding issues or phono cord issues, ie not shielded enough. You may want to look into things there (good phono stages are invariably quite sensitive, some more than others).

Hum is a perennial hobgobblin in phono stages and every analog enthusiasist sighs relief when he/she doesn't have any - and sometimes you just don't know where its coming from! You just have to slog away, talk to other people like you're doing, and keep at it. However, if it is the phono stage itself then the manufacturer needs to address that. Finding another analog system to plug it in that is already stable is always a good idea, although not dispositive.

Keep us updated please.

Asa, thanks for the advice. I managed to isolate the hum issue. It was related to the close proximity of my Syrah to my power amps, believe it or not. I had to rearramge my room again, and bring my power amps right next to my speakers, leaving the Syrah in the middle as far away from both amps as possible. Hum is now completely gone. I'm a happy camper now. Mick's preamp certainly wasn't at fault. As my turntable burns in further, I'm now beginning to see how good a vinyl rig can be. Fingers crossed it will overtake my CD player soon. Happy listening!

Happy, outlier, that hum solved. Its a real pain if not found and didn't want you to get deterred from analog. Hope you like it. Try listening to analog for about an hour then switching back to CD. Somehow, the mind gets it easier that way.