Preamp recommendations

[repman]

Todd may I selfishly suggest the CJ ET-5 I currently have listed for sale on this site. I do not think you could go wrong and a little champagne ( color) would go good with all that black!

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by repman

Todd may I selfishly suggest the CJ ET-5 I currently have listed for sale on this site. I do not think you could go wrong and a little champagne ( color) would go good with all that black!

That is a great idea !

If I had not committed to other gear, I would have replaced my ET-5 with Repman's ET-5. That's how much I like it.

[tsv_1]

Originally Posted by joeinid

That is a great idea !

If I had not committed to other gear, I would have replaced my ET-5 with Repman's ET-5. That's how much I like it.

Hi Guys,

I'm going to take some time on this decision, do as much in-home auditioning as I can before I pull the trigger.

Larry, I'll definitely let you know if I decide to go with your excellent ET-5 (though Like you and others, I'll always wonder if I should have just gone GAT... thus is the curse of this insane hobby of ours )

[ehoove]

On the tube side My ARC LS15 is dead quiet, and very open and detailed. It is more on the current sound of ARC Tubes as opposed to the earlier ARC Pres which leaned more to the tubey sound.
Regards,
Jim

[repman]

Todd, no worries thanks for the reply and Joe I appreciate the recommendation. You of all people know how CJ gear sounds. (heaven)

[NoahG]

Todd,

I'm also looking at adding a preamp to my system to drive my Magtech.

Are you aware of this info about the Magtech's inputs:

“The first is that the Magtech is a differential/complementary design which means that its frequency response is flat right down to DC. Typically in such designs there are no capacitors in the signal path that would block DC, so if you feed it a DC signal – and many preamps "leak" DC – it will amplify that signal and can easily burn up your woofers due to its high power. So, it is important to avoid DC offsets in your pre-amp when using the Magtech or indeed any other directly coupled amplifier. As a compromise Sanders employs the use of DC blocking capacitors in the unbalanced inputs of the Magtech since tube preamps are the worst offenders and most are unbalanced. The designer leaves the balanced inputs free of capacitors.”

I've been looking for a tube preamp with balanced outputs, here's my short list:

Aesthetix Calypso
Modwright LS 36.5
TRL Dude

Good luck with your search.

[trponhunter]

Don't buy any pre amp -buy a good dac with a good digital gain stage and run it direct to the amp - it'll smoke any pre amp around $5000 you could buy

[Volks]

Originally Posted by trponhunter

Don't buy any pre amp -buy a good dac with a good digital gain stage and run it direct to the amp - it'll smoke any pre amp around $5000 you could buy

Wow! hehe

[bzr]

Originally Posted by tsv_1

Hey Kev,

I hadn't thought of the P7 - thanks for the pointer on that. And yes, the no-nonsense Sanders Pre is high on the evaluation list as well - especially given the free 30-day in-home trial.

So when you say "go digital and be done with it" I take it to mean you'll use your MSB as a pre-amp, yes?

Cheers

Hey Todd, yes, that is what I mean. Am looking to get my system set up with components to the side & the less real estate the foot print is the better for mine.

[tsv_1]

Originally Posted by trponhunter

Don't buy any pre amp -buy a good dac with a good digital gain stage and run it direct to the amp - it'll smoke any pre amp around $5000 you could buy

Hi Hunter... well, basically that's what I have now with the W4S DAC2. Great built-in pre... and in fact, with digital sources like my Olive 04HD, the DAC analog outputs sound great directly driving my amps. Problem is, I also want to optionally use my Oppo95 analog outputs when playing SACDs and some redbook. So, I need a high quality pre for switching and level control.