Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi guys,

I previously owned a Sauvignon which I loved but sold when I got into vinyl. My listening is now 95% vinyl and I want a new preamp with a world-class phono stage.

I am not sure if I would want to spring for the Cortese or not. The raves over the Chenin are rather impressive. Who has heard both relatively recently and could comment? How much difference is there?

I have heard that the Cortese circuit (linestage part at least) is far more complex. IME, simple circuits with very high quality parts usually do all things well, if noise is kept down.

Noise is paramount as I use 100 dB speakers. Any comments on noise between the two? How about liquidity of midrange - that's probably goal #1.

I would like to read the whole thread but that will take awhile...

Hello Paul,

I will never own a Cortese. Not because of monetary issues but I just do not need one.

I use a Chenin FF preamp with Mullard 8080 and Amperex BB's on the phono section. I have an Altec 604-8G's in OB and 612C Altec cabs, a Fostex MLTL, and a Bozak Rhapsody. They are 100dB, 95 dB, and 92 dB respectively. I am very happy about the synergy and the preamp does not hum even at maximum gain settings (per channel) of the phono and minimum attenuation (full) of the linestage volume.

Before the Chenin, I was using a Wright Sound WPP100C. The Chenin phono is much much better than the Wright! No comparison! Besides, you need very quiet tubes on the WPP100C or you will hear "tube rush" or hiss as you increase the individual gain pots on it. Not a problem with the Chenin. Very quiet!

After that, I went a little "pie tasting" if you will. I had the Pass Xono, Hagerman Trumpet, and a heavily modified Hagerman Cornet II. I do not care for the Pass, The Trumpet was very nice, and i can get very close to the sound of the Trumpet with the Cornet II. So I sold the first two and kept the Cornet.

Like you, I played vinyl almost exclusively. Hell, check my equiptment page and you will see that I am telling the truth. Besides, now that I am on the SET/High Eff camp, hum issue is a no no to take advantage of the speakers high efficiency in order not to mask the small nuances that contributes to the listening experience.

My experiences in the context of my own system only of course!

regards,

Abe

Hello Abe, just checked out your system ...nice collection especially that Teres turntable.

I noticed you have the Linkwitz Orion open baffle loudspeaker, what's your honest opinion of it? I've been interested to try it out, is it as transparent as the Maggies or is it just cones & domes doing their usual thing? Also, does the OB bass go low enough for you (I notice you have separate subwoofers)...

Thanks,

Steve.

This is interesting ...about capacitor rolling.

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/caprolling/caps.html

Regards,

Steve.

I noticed you have the Linkwitz Orion open baffle loudspeaker, what's your honest opinion of it? I've been interested to try it out, is it as transparent as the Maggies or is it just cones & domes doing their usual thing? Also, does the OB bass go low enough for you (I notice you have separate subwoofers)...

Hello Steve,

The Orions are the best speakers I ever heard! No other speakers that I heard off exhibits the same dynamics and bass impact what the Orions (4 x Peerless XLS subwoofers in dipole config)can do. Granted that I only heard a handful of the speakers through my audition but I can assure you, it will kill the Wilsons or VR's with a price tag of $8-10K in terms of dynamics no matter what amps you use for them. Hard to believe eh!

I was an electrostatic die hard. Also was an maggie head. Even if you love SS gears, the maggies and the Martin Logans I own are easily bested by the Orions to my ears.

I am now exploring the high efficiency/SET domain and to be honest, I really like it. No, I do not have subwoofers! Only for HT where I still have a Velodyne but there is no pics of it in my system page.

I now have an Altec 604-8G's in OB. Bass cannot be compared to the Orions of course nor the "dynamic" impact where the Orions really excell. But knowing my limitations with power(SET)and damping factor which needs to be considered also, and the fact that it is single driver open baffle implementation, I cannot complain. I am happy of what I got and I know it can only get better. Besides, the Altec 604's excells on its ability to provide pin point imaging and not to provide very flat response across the freq spectrum.

regards,