2. amps-preamps
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TRL Dude or Joule 150 MKII for Major Pre Upgrade

Thinking of either of these for what I view as a huge pre upgrade in my system. Current system is:

-Celestion A3
-Krell KAV250a (500 wpc/4 ohms).
-Nohr CD-1
-Rotel 995 preamp

I am looking to pickup warmth, depth and much more soundstage. Quality bass is also important to me. I want to keep the Celestions and feel that my current pre is the weakest link. Will also will update my digital source and ss amp down the road.

My thinking is that it will be worth paying up a bit for a higher quality pre that I can grow into.

Also I have a small naive question...with either of these pre amps will the sound difference be that great compared to the Rotel.

Thanks...any comments are appreciated.

-Iggy
iggy7
tuongsy
25 posts
 
I received my Dude preamp last week. It looks amazing.It is the best looking piece in my system. The color is gold. Right out of the box, the Dude sounds bad. Up to now, it has been playing about 30 hours. The Dude is utterly shocking now. The transformation is not subtle. I am hearing details in the music that I have never heard before. The music sounds so real. I just cannot wait for it to be fully broken in. Paul Weitzel's customer service is outstanding. I am looking forward to purchasing new tube amps from him.
scp
47 posts
 
Anybody know if the Dude is availible to order with home theatre bypass?
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
I would ask Paul if he would build you one like that. Only he can answer that question.
mitch2
3,969 posts
 
I sadly passed on a "like new" Dude this week because I couldn't make the high output impedance work with my amps. Although the amps have 100K ohm input impedance, they have balanced inputs only. I have to use transformers to convert rca to XLR since using a basic rca/XLR adaptor causes hum. The transformers have an input impedance of only 23K ohms, which would not work with the Dude. I will need a balanced version if I want to try one, or own one. I would like the opportunity to see and hear one sometime before taking the plunge to purchase one.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,800 posts
 
Mitch2, as much as I think you should be buying my preamp :) instead of the Dude, I am sure the Dude can work with your amplifier. The problem is that the adapters you were using were not wired right.

The problem is that pin 3 of the XLR was left floating, allowing the amp to buzz of hum. Cardas adapters are often wired this way. Its easy to fix- you just connect pin 3 to pin 1 and you're all set.
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