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Which is a better choice? New, or used preamp?

So I've been doing a lot of research, and am interested in people's opinions about a new vs. used tube preamps...

I'm looking for a good quality tube pre, maybe around $1500. People have recommended some new products (Doge an YS for example) in that price range, but I can't help but wonder if I'm not going to get a better performance with a used pre in that price range that used to sell new for maybe $2500-$3500?

That would be a 10-15 year old pre probably, so has the quality advanced such that the YS could present a better soundstage, for example?

Thanks,

Michael
mjm6
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
CJ sounds less like solid state than ARC for example. My advice is to replace, or have any and all electrolytic capacitors replaced when you buy used. Over a period of years they get weaker and degrade the performance; of course this only applies to older used preamps
larryi
3,982 posts
 
I am not familiar with the sound of Sonic Frontier gear, but, your description of your preference would suggest something other than Audio Research and even BAT. The Audio Research gears tends toward a quite lean sound (much more so than most solid state gear).

I suggest looking at Joule, Conrad Johnson, VAC, Cary, Jadis and Lamm. There are a lot of obscure brands that are terrific, though MUCH harder to find used, such as, Audiospace (a Hong Kong brand that has been putting out great gear for a long time), Fi, Air Tight,and de Havilland.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
A hybrid rather than a tubed preamp, but wow do I like the Musical Fidelity kW. By buying used you are able to afford features in amps and preamps that you might not be able to afford otherwise, particularly in terms of parts that make up a big chunk of the price for these. In partucular I'm thinking of the toroids and power supply caps, and transformers.

Power supply in that kW is massive, and a good power supply goes a long way in audio...
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
The dividing point might be remote control. If you can go without a remote, there are a lot of great preamps out there that go begging.

One of my first considerations would be a Music Reference RM-5.

Something else that will stun you if you can find one is Encore Audio.
hifitime
715 posts
 
Even though you can buy new, the new ones can still have the lower end parts, unless you buy their better/premium line. If you buy used, you can get the premium (for same or less sometimes) used ones, that can be more transparent, cleaner, and better in other ways, due to better parts and maybe a better design, a lot of the time. If you buy a brand that has been around, and has a good reputation, you could do a lot better used. These are items if built right, last a long time. Sometimes, the seller will even include better tubes also.
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