Tim Marchant
Member
But I realize from the beginning that this forum is going to be biased towards vintage gear. Im going to give it a shot anyway.
The subject of taking my HT setup and adding a dedicated 2 channel enviroment to it came up a few days ago. Since then it was determined that I need a passive preamp or an active preamp with a passive bypass or loop. Since then Ive done some research and found the preamp.
http://www.monolithicsound.com/pa-1.html
Seems to get great reviews, can be passive or active and would suit my needs perfectly and the matching phono preamp is supposed to be very nice.
Now comes the dillema.
Today I called a guy to get pricing on the PA-1 and he says used is $300 and I say "I'll take it" but he interjects and asks what amps Im running and what source. I give him the low down (ATI amps, Philips CDP and soon a Rega TT). He explains that the ATI amps are very powerful and clean but have that distinct "bright" solid state sound to them. He says he can make me an incredible deal on a vintage Conrad Johnson PV2A tube preamp. He says the phono preamp in it is better than the Rotel preamp that I bought (yet it wouldnt be better than the monolithic phono pre if I ended up buying it) and he says that it will "tame" my bright system. It doesnt have a passive input but the solution to that is to put the gain control at 12 o'clock and calibrate my HT setup. Then whenever I switch to HT mode, just be sure to turn the gain control back to 12 o'clock. He quoted me a price of $290 and I saw one other on Audiogon for $200, so he may be willing to go down a few $$ (or I could get the one off Audigon).
Just wanted some feedback here before I make a decision. I havent finalized my speaker purchase yet so I can always "tame" the brightness by buying a non metal domed speaker. Im looking at both options being about the same price, but if I go the CJ way I can sell my Rotel pre and that takes the price of the CJ down $100.
Tim
P.S. Since Ive opened up a can of worms with this one, any other tube preamp or passive preamps options under $500 are welcomed. I saw a CJ PV7 for $400 somewhere.
P.S.S. Link to the CJ PV2A
http://www.conradjohnson.com/It_just_sounds_right/a-PV2.html
P.S.S.S Found this link on Ebay for a PV2 (not PV2a, but same thing) offers better pics.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1391924979
The subject of taking my HT setup and adding a dedicated 2 channel enviroment to it came up a few days ago. Since then it was determined that I need a passive preamp or an active preamp with a passive bypass or loop. Since then Ive done some research and found the preamp.
http://www.monolithicsound.com/pa-1.html
Seems to get great reviews, can be passive or active and would suit my needs perfectly and the matching phono preamp is supposed to be very nice.
Now comes the dillema.
Today I called a guy to get pricing on the PA-1 and he says used is $300 and I say "I'll take it" but he interjects and asks what amps Im running and what source. I give him the low down (ATI amps, Philips CDP and soon a Rega TT). He explains that the ATI amps are very powerful and clean but have that distinct "bright" solid state sound to them. He says he can make me an incredible deal on a vintage Conrad Johnson PV2A tube preamp. He says the phono preamp in it is better than the Rotel preamp that I bought (yet it wouldnt be better than the monolithic phono pre if I ended up buying it) and he says that it will "tame" my bright system. It doesnt have a passive input but the solution to that is to put the gain control at 12 o'clock and calibrate my HT setup. Then whenever I switch to HT mode, just be sure to turn the gain control back to 12 o'clock. He quoted me a price of $290 and I saw one other on Audiogon for $200, so he may be willing to go down a few $$ (or I could get the one off Audigon).
Just wanted some feedback here before I make a decision. I havent finalized my speaker purchase yet so I can always "tame" the brightness by buying a non metal domed speaker. Im looking at both options being about the same price, but if I go the CJ way I can sell my Rotel pre and that takes the price of the CJ down $100.
Tim
P.S. Since Ive opened up a can of worms with this one, any other tube preamp or passive preamps options under $500 are welcomed. I saw a CJ PV7 for $400 somewhere.
P.S.S. Link to the CJ PV2A
http://www.conradjohnson.com/It_just_sounds_right/a-PV2.html
P.S.S.S Found this link on Ebay for a PV2 (not PV2a, but same thing) offers better pics.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1391924979
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