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Best Vintage Preamp

I am happy with my Yamaha C-1 pre-amp. Only drawback is a defective phono which is difficult to repair because of unobtainable parts.
Looking for a extra Audio Research pre. Many controls/knobs is a must-have.

Second favorite which I do not have nor ever have heard is the Sansui CA-3000.
 
I know this thread is 10 years old but not one person mentioned the Harman kardon citation 17s preamp from the mid-70s. Straight line no tone controls absolutely bulletproof and beautiful sounding.
 
rwwear said:
Looks great. I just bought a Sony TAE-8450. It sounds very nice especially the phono. Needs some work though. The channels drop out. Wiggling knobs helps for a while.
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A lot of issues with the TAE-8450 are caused by the early double sided PCBs in the unit. The two sides connect by short jumpers soldered on both sides. The solder will rot on those after 50 years, and cause all kinds of trouble. The solution is to desolder and resolder every one of those joints.

My TAE-8450 had a bad channel that I couldn’t track down even after resoldering every one of the jumpers. It turned out I missed one, which was underneath one of the push switches. I resoldered that one, and now it works fine. I did that repair 5 years ago, and was just listening to it earlier today
 
mcjohnston said:
I'm wondering what people think is a good vintage preamp?

I have a Mcintosh C40 in my office and I like that, although I don't think it qualifies as vintage (c. '92-'98). Downstairs I am building a more vintage system for the "pool room" (unfinished corner of my basement where the pool table is...the stereo sits on an old workbench. Not fancy but dry and clean).

So far I have a Yamaha YP-D71 turntable and A/D/S L 1290 II speakers. I want to use a "replica" Dynaco ST-70 that I have, so I am sort of looking around for a vintage preamp.

I always used integrateds back in the day so I don't have much experience with preamps.

Needs phono!

Opinions? Thanks!
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A rebuilt Dynaco Pas-3 is an obvious match for your ST-70.
'90s Counterpoint
'90s Pass Labs Aleph P is a stunner
Vintage Conrad Johnson and Audio Research are also worth considering.
 
The Yamaha is lovely but it is a surround preamp which makes it less desirable to a lot of us. Plus it has RCA video switching which is useless nowadays. It's still beautifully built though. The Vintage Knob has a nice write up on it.
 
bigaltx24 said:
Kenwood Basic C1 & C2s have a lot of fans around here, they are real hard to beat for the money they go for.
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I have a Basic C1 that I pair with a Crown DC300A. I have access to real Crown techs for my amp and have the Crown in for a thorough run through, but do not have for the Kenwood. I wonder if it may be time to have the C1 checked for performance issues too and if so, who would be the best choice for similar treatment. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
 
neuf512 said:
I wonder if it may be time to have the C1 checked for performance issues too and if so, who would be the best choice for similar treatment. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
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There is a good C1 resto write up on the Kenwood subforum. It might be worth checking out. See the resto sticky.
 
neuf512 said:
I have a Basic C1 that I pair with a Crown DC300A. I have access to real Crown techs for my amp and have the Crown in for a thorough run through, but do not have for the Kenwood. I wonder if it may be time to have the C1 checked for performance issues too and if so, who would be the best choice for similar treatment. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
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I have a C1 and a C2 that are all original that sound just fine. Same with my L-07Cll. If it ain't broke don't fix it. That's strictly my opinion though.
 
Yamahalic said:
My dream preamp...Yamaha's CX-10000 with an exquisite brushed aluminum cab, wood sides, and top of the line components throughout, Yamaha's best of the best entry into audiophilia.
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I own one and it's one of the best preamps I've ever heard. The internal DACs on the digital section are particularly superb.

As to the comments about it being AV - mine has a CD player, a phono preamp and a tuner plugged into it - nothing else! The sound effects processor is always off, as is the digital parametric equaliser. Still sounds magnificent.
 
I still use a couple of older preamps in my systems.

One is in a Classe based system - a Classe DR-7 (designed by Dave Reich in the 1980s) - a separate power supply that looks (and weighs) like a power amp, Not many made an now hard to find. Another is a Conrad Johnson Premier 14. I also have a couple of others, but those are the ones that stand out sonically!
 
If you want to save money, nothing better than a kenwood C1 or C2, also any Nad are very good.
want to spend more money, get a Hafler preamp
 
I've never owned any tube gear but I recently stumbled upon the Audio Research SP9 and have fallen in love with it although I've never heard one.
 
It's been 5 years since I posted in this thread, but my Audible Illusions Mod3A is still going strong, still on 24/7/365 since being installed in October 1998....I have a case of 200 Yugoslavian 6DJ8s and occasionally swap out the tubes, but I use Pearl Tube coolers on them, and they last a good long while... I would only get a couple of months at the max before using the tube coolers, they changed the whole eating of tubes things, in my experience, with this preamp.

I've also got an Adcom GFP565 in my radio room, and it has been in constant use since getting back in the early 1990s, never any problems with it either.
 
RickB said:
It's been 5 years since I posted in this thread, but my Audible Illusions Mod3A is still going strong, still on 24/7/365 since being installed in October 1998....I have a case of 200 Yugoslavian 6DJ8s and occasionally swap out the tubes, but I use Pearl Tube coolers on them, and they last a good long while... I would only get a couple of months at the max before using the tube coolers, they changed the whole eating of tubes things, in my experience, with this preamp.

I've also got an Adcom GFP565 in my radio room, and it has been in constant use since getting back in the early 1990s, never any problems with it either.
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Are those Ei-made?

Thanks!
 
Did the boxes have "Niŝ" printed on them?

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Ei (Niŝ) made 6DJ8/ECC88. Note the plate, getter splash guard, and ring construction. Nice tubes!
 
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