2. amps-preamps
  3. 1293831830

Kondo, Zanden, CJ, Ref 5? Pre w/ Pure Tonal Color?

Hi A'Goners! Happy New Year! I am looking for a no-holds barred (second-hand) preamp that can (at least) maintain the transparency, detail, speed of my CJ ACT 2 but really add dramatically more tonal color, purity, harmonic richness.

My system:

Oppo BDP-83 (Upgrade Company modd'd)
Zanden 5000 Signature DAC
CJ ACT 2 Pre (Series 1)
Gryphon Antileon
Wilson X-1/Grand Slamms
Velodyne DD-18 (in parallel...from 35hz downward)
Transp Ref IC/SC
PAD Dominus/Ann Contego & Sablon Audio PCs
Transp Ref Power Conditioner
Nordost QX4

For background, i used to own SF Strads, and have owned Guarneris and CJ equipment for years...but i recently upgraded to the one speaker i have found in 25 years which i preferred. The Wilson X-1 Grand slamms...which far surpasses the Strads in soundstage, dynamics, detail retrieval and rhythm...as well as bass. And I have found it can be intensely musical...when set up right. (super-sensitive to set up.)

With the Wilson's in, my system today is as musical now as it was with the Strads...but i find with the immense increase in detail, soundstage, bass, rhythm, spaciousness, etc...i feel like if i could find a way to add some additional tonal color to the sound...it might go even one level further!!! (As always...a never-ending pursuit!)

i know many feel Pres should be straight wire and gain. in my case, i think the ACT 2 may be "losing" some color along the way. In particular, i think that my Zanden and Gryphon are quite warm with good tonal purity...and i have read that the ACT 2 compared to some well-regarded Pre's is a little too neutral. (hence why the Series 2 came out quite quickly...within less than 24 months).

thus, i am thinking about changing the ACT 2. Here is my current shortlist...but i am truly open-minded:
- CJ ART 3
- CJ Act 2 (Series 2)
- Audio Note?
- ARC Ref 5

These would all be second-hand and therefore "do-able"

meanwhile, for the right deal, i would also look at:
- Wavac PRT-1
- ARC Ref Anniversary
- Kondo M-10

I MUST hear them for myself in my system...i always keep my own counsel. but it sometimes helps to get the benefit of other people;'s experiences to at least draft my "shortlist" of preamps. I have focused on tubes...but if SS gets you there, say so!

Thanks for any guidance!

Lloyd
lloydelee21
lloydelee21 OP
1,202 posts
 
Hi ie,

i agree...the key is i dont like spending money unless i am going to keep something for years to come. So at this point, i prefer to spend much less money and then upgrade i a big way. Specifically, i am thinking: Zanden Transport (S/hand of course!)...or the new MSB Transport...also i2s plus apparently an extremely high quality transfer of digital to solid state memory before reclocking to various digital outs with single-digit picosecond jitter levels.

Normally, i never go for such techno-stuff...everyone has their own marketing spin. But in this case, given the reviews of their DAC's, i admit at least to be extremely curious about the transport.
topoxforddoc's avatar
topoxforddoc
353 posts
 
Add the TRON Syren to your list. Great build and SQ - in the same league as Kondo, but a fraction of the cost. Jeff at Highwater Sound, NYC handles TRON.
lloydelee21 OP
1,202 posts
 
Thanks!
lloydelee21 OP
1,202 posts
 
So i have finally managed to hear the CJ GAT. Something else...so incredibly transparent, it really feels like it disappeared, and in its place, you get notes, speed, the exact dynamics you honestly can believe were there in life.

The speed of the unit is one key...its transparency is another...it seems invisible...and then finally, CJ managed to leave a touch of its DNA behind. So it always feels natural in its tonality. Quite an achievement.

This feels to me like the Shindo did in terms of that midrange coming forward...but much, much faster, greater extension and far greater evenness across the spectrum.
lloydelee21 OP
1,202 posts
 
07-28-11: Sibelius
@Agree with Dmailer. I also traded in a Massetto in for a Vosne Romanee and thought the change was pretty dramatic. I thought Art Dudley's review in Stereophile last November was right on the money in how he described the differences between the preamps. As I've said before, If my house was on fire and I could only save one piece of equipment, the Shindo VR would be it."

Sibelius/DMailer,

I have heard from owners of the Vosne Romanee that they preferred it to the Giscours and did not upgrade(which was once the top reference pre until the Petrus.) I wonder if the Petrus became the new reference (both to keep pace with the current trend of higher and higher SOTA equipment)...but also because perhaps the Giscours did not quite fulfill its expectation of convincingly surpassing the V-R? merely speculation.
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