Show us your Pre Amps....

[Willmax]

On 06/01/2021 at 4:40 PM, Rosco8 said:

Lots of beautiful pre's here to admire  .... 

These are my valve pre's which are on different systems.

Ayon auris, AR ls15, McC22, and like a lot of others here , yeh boring  a Supratek which is currently running 2a3's.

Nice collection there. If you had to choose one which one would that be?

[Rosco8]

3 hours ago, Willmax said:

Nice collection there. If you had to choose one which one would that be?

Supratek DHT Cabernet ... it replaced the Ayon which is also a nice pre, which in turn replaced the AR.  The Ayon drives the Radford, I did look at acquiring an Radford pre but technically the Ayon reviews well ahead and I really like it.

 

What I like about the Supratek is being able to try different valves in it .. started with Emission lab 45m's which came with it and are very good, tried a couple of 300B's in it as well but not the expensive ones and then found some vintage 2a3's, I just luv' the detail.  I have rolled other positions and some made a difference to my ears, example being different 6SN7 in the inner position. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Rosco8

[xlr8or]

4 hours ago, Rosco8 said:

What I like about the Supratek is being able to try different valves in it .. started with Emission lab 45m's which came with it and are very good, tried a couple of 300B's in it as well but not the expensive ones and then found some vintage 2a3's, I just luv' the detail.  I have rolled other positions and some made a difference to my ears, example being different 6SN7 in the inner position. 

 

A tube purchaser by day and a tube roller by night. Now that valve preamp is a piece of art. Lovely stuff.

 

Which 2A3's are fitted in there? 1950's grey plate RCA's? Also, what's the rectifier? It looks like a GEC U52. The EL34's look like Xf* Blackburn production. Holy crap the roll on this preamp is perfect and probably sounds the best.

[Rosco8]

11 hours ago, xlr8or said:

 

A tube purchaser by day and a tube roller by night. Now that valve preamp is a piece of art. Lovely stuff.

 

Which 2A3's are fitted in there? 1950's grey plate RCA's? Also, what's the rectifier? It looks like a GEC U52. The EL34's look like Xf* Blackburn production. Holy crap the roll on this preamp is perfect and probably sounds the best.

You are good   A lot of the hard work tube rolling was done by the previous owner, Thi over in Perth, I have tinkered replacing the 45's with the 2a3's and adding the Ken Rads.  I really like the sound of the pre, detailed and warm.  

 

Yep, RCA 2a3's with grey plates and now have a great NOS spare set I got from the USA.

Inner VT231 are Ken Rad blacks, I did have a pair of Sylvania Metal base but one was badly microphonic, I did like the extra colour they gave ... I have tried RCA's, various Sylvanias but I like the Black Len Rad's.

Outer VT221 Sylvania clear, I tried my spare Black Ken Rads but couldn't hear a difference so saved them as replacement for the inner.

Yep, right again, Rectifier is GEC U52, was a fun job to get spares at a reasonable cost 

EL34's are Valvo and still trying to get some spares, been in a couple of Fleabay bidding wars but they go too high for me, have a couple of other brands in my stash.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Rosco8

[MoveD]

 

 

A little beauty. Brutally Brimarized!

 

Nagra PL-L

1x Brimar 6060 1955 “Trustworthy”

2x Brimar 12AX7 1952 Long Black Plate

 

Pretty much done tube rolling for now...

[xlr8or]

@Rosco08 With the EL34's, I think you may have some Xf2 or Xf3 types from Mullard Blackburn relabelled as Valvo's. If that's the case they are pretty easy to track down even locally under other brand names.

[blakey72]

General question. Do you find that synergy is important between the pre and power? Like matching amp to speakers? 

[Steever]

My DAC XP with XP+ and other upgrades. The PSX-R also helps. 
 

 

and since posting here previously, I also picked up a Quattro for a second system. Besides being a pre, is also tuner and cdp. 
 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Winno

[Rosco8]

On 09/01/2021 at 12:39 PM, blakey72 said:

General question. Do you find that synergy is important between the pre and power? Like matching amp to speakers? 

My experience is that the pre-power amp combo is as important as the speakers.

 

As an example I needed to tame some of the highs on my Dyna C2 Plats so after a lot of reading threads on components that worked with C2's moved from a SS combo (Parasound) to a valve (AR) initially with the Parasound Power amp which improved but didn't fully solve the higher frequencies and then with a Bryston 4BSST which did the trick.  Since then I have upgraded all the components on my main system, speakers, pre and power amps but have worked within the general amp rules I had learnt, and when I could trialled  new amp components.  I have run this combo now (Supratek/Accuphase and also AR or Ayon pre's with Bryston) with 5 different speaker sets and it works well with them all. 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Rosco8

[andyr]

On 09/01/2021 at 12:39 PM, blakey72 said:

General question. Do you find that synergy is important between the pre and power? Like matching amp to speakers? 

 

That is an oft-asked question.  

 

My reply is as follows:

* matching is important ... and if you match well ... you should get this wonderful thing called 'synergy'!  

* matching implies a couple of things:

• using a preamp that has a Zout <10 times the Zin of your power amp
• (so tube preamps cannot always be used with ss power amps)
• and making sure the 'flavour' of the two components complements each other - so a tube preamp can often make a dry-sounding ss power amp, a bit more pleasant to listen to.  

But you can do this 'synergy' thing without actually having a preamp!  

 

For instance, my system used to be:  sources --> hybrid preamp --> miniDSP --> ss power amps.

 

Now, it is:  digital sources (so A2D converter on my phono stage) --> 4-way digital source-selector --> miniDSP --> 8-channel volume control + tube buffer --> power amps.

 

Source selection and (analogue) volume control happen with 2 different devices - so I don't have a 'preamp', as such.  But I still have the same functionality.  

 

Andy

 

[blakey72]

32 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

That is an oft-asked question.  

 

My reply is as follows:

* matching is important ... and if you match well ... you should get this wonderful thing called 'synergy'!  

* matching implies a couple of things:

• using a preamp that has a Zout <10 times the Zin of your power amp
• (so tube preamps cannot always be used with ss power amps)
• and making sure the 'flavour' of the two components complements each other - so a tube preamp can often make a dry-sounding ss power amp, a bit more pleasant to listen to.  

But you can do this 'synergy' thing without actually having a preamp!  

 

For instance, my system used to be:  sources --> hybrid preamp --> miniDSP --> ss power amps.

 

Now, it is:  digital sources (so A2D converter on my phono stage) --> 4-way digital source-selector --> miniDSP --> 8-channel volume control + tube buffer --> power amps.

 

Source selection and (analogue) volume control happen with 2 different devices - so I don't have a 'preamp', as such.  But I still have the same functionality.  

 

Andy

 

I'm driving my Dyn DM3/7's with these which are a really great match but just using the source straight into them and using their very basic level controls (which don't go down to silent). They are fairly 'tubey' sounding as it is so SS may be better. I don't want to spend too much atm maybe <$500.

[bevwil]

On 13/10/2019 at 10:22 AM, mjs said:

Somewhat predictable, ME25, I think 18 years old now, recently recapped and upgraded, absolutely singing.

I've got one of these up in cupboard somewhere. Been up there for about 15 years. Can't even remember if it has a MM or MC card.  Do you think it's worth selling as is?

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by bevwil
got my years wrong

[christosd]

6 hours ago, bevwil said:

I've got one of these up in cupboard somewhere. Been up there for about 15 years. Can't even remember if it has a MM or MC card.  Do you think it's worth selling as is?

 

I like mine enough to want another for my second system if you want to sell it. 

[bevwil]

On 14/01/2021 at 6:51 PM, christosd said:

I like mine enough to want another for my second system if you want to sell it. 

Let me hunt it down ...see if it's still working...and think about it. Adelaide eh? I'm in Sydney. Sold my Townshend Rock turntable to a guy inAadelaide last year. Maybe thats a good omen.

[Shanghai Wally]

Luckily found this Sony TAE-8450 so I'm very happy with the performance in different configurations with several Poweramps from different manufacturers

Its a keeper thats sure 

Cheers and stay safe 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Shanghai Wally
Layout reason

[Ihearmusic]

Tube buffer with Tortuga LDR volume control.

I finished this a few weeks ago and have made some changes to the front since then.

If no gain is required and a bit of tube sound is desired, this is one way of going about it.

The Tortuga LDR volume control work a treat and even has mute and left right balance. It also offers the option of quickly swapping the LDR module to a discrete module.

The iPotV3 Mini is small enough to possibly retrofit into an existing amp. Best of all is that I got prompt delivery of the volume control and the product is professionally made and comes with a stylish Apple remote. 

[Rustee]

Its been a long time coming but finally I have myself a beautiful fully restored Perreaux SM2. 

The difference a dedicated pre has made to my system is more than I could have ever imagined.

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Rustee

[Claudio IL Benna]

Another one for the Elekit TU-8500 tube preamplifier. Fun to build,great quality, I upgraded few parts without going too crazy, also installed nos GE 12at7wc(6201), great improvement. I like the selectable gain and the mm/mc option. I think it is a bargain.

[knotscott]

Lazarus Cascade Basic tube preamp - Bought this new around 1987 from Paul Heath Audio in Rochester, NY.  Retail price was $600-$650 back then.   No tone controls, no remote, uses (4) 12AX7 tubes.  I added new JJ ECC803s tube, replaced caps and resistors in the power supply, and many of the audio caps during covid quarantine of March 2020.   Sounds good to me!

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by knotscott

[MattyW]

DACGEAR LDR Pre Mk2. Nice small form factor unit with full remote control. Sounds as good as whatever is in front of it, and the chain after it 

 

I no longer have the Wavebourn though rather a Pass Labs Aleph-M for fullrange + tweets and a Crown XLS1002 for the woofers.

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by MattyW

[MattyW]

On 03/06/2021 at 11:10 PM, Ihearmusic said:

Tube buffer with Tortuga LDR volume control.

I finished this a few weeks ago and have made some changes to the front since then.

If no gain is required and a bit of tube sound is desired, this is one way of going about it.

The Tortuga LDR volume control work a treat and even has mute and left right balance. It also offers the option of quickly swapping the LDR module to a discrete module.

The iPotV3 Mini is small enough to possibly retrofit into an existing amp. Best of all is that I got prompt delivery of the volume control and the product is professionally made and comes with a stylish Apple remote. 

 

Stunning unit. Colour me green with envy 

[Batty]

On 07/08/2021 at 9:55 AM, Claudiones De Bologna said:

Another one for the Elekit TU-8500 tube preamplifier. Fun to build,great quality, I upgraded few parts without going too crazy, also installed nos GE 12at7wc(6201), great improvement. I like the selectable gain and the mm/mc option. I think it is a bargain.

Did you try it with original parts initially? If so were the upgraded caps worthwhile as I am tempted to try something like that, the caps are quite cheap too.

[Batty]

Just ordered the caps.

[stereo coffee]

On 11/01/2021 at 11:35 PM, andyr said:

 

That is an oft-asked question.  

 

My reply is as follows:

* matching is important ... and if you match well ... you should get this wonderful thing called 'synergy'!  

* matching implies a couple of things:

• using a preamp that has a Zout <10 times the Zin of your power amp
• (so tube preamps cannot always be used with ss power amps)
• and making sure the 'flavour' of the two components complements each other - so a tube preamp can often make a dry-sounding ss power amp, a bit more pleasant to listen to.  

But you can do this 'synergy' thing without actually having a preamp!  

 

For instance, my system used to be:  sources --> hybrid preamp --> miniDSP --> ss power amps.

 

Now, it is:  digital sources (so A2D converter on my phono stage) --> 4-way digital source-selector --> miniDSP --> 8-channel volume control + tube buffer --> power amps.

 

Source selection and (analogue) volume control happen with 2 different devices - so I don't have a 'preamp', as such.  But I still have the same functionality.  

 

Andy

 

Better is to plot what is exactly happening with shunt and series resistances in your system,  if you are using a L pad. There are usually layers of additional synergy waiting to be found, particularly if we dispense with accepting, marketplace fooling us formats of linear or log curves, as each are nowhere near what music requires.  

[stereo coffee]

8 minutes ago, stereo coffee said:

Better is to plot what is exactly happening with shunt and series resistances in your system,  if you are using a L pad. There are usually layers of additional synergy waiting to be found, particularly if we dispense with accepting, marketplace fooling us formats of linear or log curves, as each are nowhere near what music requires.  

Which as it suggests includes the nicely packaged devices,  containing said marketplace fooling us formats. Mary was right putting her foot on it in 1919, sadly few paid attention.