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Help matching a preamp

J

Jimmyjam16

New Member
I have been slowly getting back into building up my audio system and I could use a little advice.
I recently purchased an Adcom GFA-555 amp and a pair of Polk RT112’s. I’m only running a marantz cd-63.
I’m in need of a preamp and I could use some advice on a good match for what I’ve got. I’m only looking to spend about $300 or less. I’ve been considering Adcom gap-555, schiit saga plus, schiit saga s, bellari pa-555.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I have a saga V1, which is quite similar to the Saga+. I'm running it into a DSP, then bi-amping into a PP tube amp and an Emotiva A100. It works quite well, but unlike many preamps, it is passive with the tube filter bypassed and adds zero gain, while with the tube enabled, it adds a marginal amount. However, it does really increase the imaging and soundstage. It's a fantastic product for the money.
 
I've got an Adcom GFP-815 mated with my two GFA555 II's and I'm very happy with it. A used one would probably be a bit above your budget though.

I also had a Hafler amp and pre-amp a looong time ago. I was also very happy with that. But the Hafler will be much older and there is a chance the example you find may need a little TLC.
 
For that my recommendation is a ADCOM GFP-555. You have a cool vintage amp, so I would stay vintage, and those look good together. Im sure it sounds good too.
There's one on that auction site in your price range, (no affiliation). I'm not a fan of schitt or bellari so no recommendation on that from me. A lot of people like them and thats great. Not me.
 
Schiit is decent quality for a decent price. You either like them, or you don't, and there's not much middle ground. Adcom is also decent, and there's a good variety of their preamps out there.

My vintage recommendation would be a Kenwood Basic C2, especially if you are into vinyl, the phono-stage is quite good. It's a very competent piece of kit, and sounds good as well.
 
Jimmyjam16 said:
I have been slowly getting back into building up my audio system and I could use a little advice.
I recently purchased an Adcom GFA-555 amp and a pair of Polk RT112’s. I’m only running a marantz cd-63.
I’m in need of a preamp and I could use some advice on a good match for what I’ve got. I’m only looking to spend about $300 or less. I’ve been considering Adcom gap-555, schiit saga plus, schiit saga s, bellari pa-555.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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In order to determine what preamp would be best suited to you, you would need to outline what specifically you need the preamp to do.
 
^^^ Agree. Do you need phono inputs? How many devices do do you want to control?
I would ask if you want digital inputs but at $300 I would look at adding a DAC later as an integrated DAC at that price point would probably suck, whereas a standalone DAC could be added later for a few hundred. Alternately, a Bluetooth receiver with a built in DAC could be added for cheap that would give you the functionality and convenience of streaming music from your phone at will - admittedly not at the best sound quality but, I use one for non critical background listening all the time.
Most pre amps will output a decent line signal that will play well with your amp so your decision is more about the inputs you need.
I do not have any of the Schiit gear but from what I have read there is some good value there, good build quality, and an American company.
Make sure to let us know what you get in the end and how well it serves you.
 
thanks guys. I really appreciate all of the feedback that had been given so far.
So, I really can’t see needing more than 3 outputs. For now, I am only running a cd player but I am interested in adding some type of streaming device in the near future and I am not interested in adding a phonograph anytime soon.
I’m in an apartment so a preamp that sounds good at low to mid level volume would be best.
 
Jimmyjam16 said:
So, I really can’t see needing more than 3 outputs. For now, I am only running a cd player but I am interested in adding some type of streaming device in the near future and I am not interested in adding a phonograph anytime soon.
I’m in an apartment so a preamp that sounds good at low to mid level volume would be best.
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3 outputs? Preamp main outs go to amp main in. Are you really running 1 preamp to 3 amps? You shouldn't need more than 1 output. Very few preamps have multiple outputs and even then, they are paralleled internally, so same thing as using y cables.

Sounds good at mid level volume? How a system sounds at a given volume level is a function of the speakers and amp. Preamp has little to nothing to do with this 99.9999% of the time.
 
z-adamson said:
3 outputs? Preamp main outs go to amp main in. Are you really running 1 preamp to 3 amps? You shouldn't need more than 1 output. Very few preamps have multiple outputs and even then, they are paralleled internally, so same thing as using y cables.

Sounds good at mid level volume? How a system sounds at a given volume level is a function of the speakers and amp. Preamp has little to nothing to do with this 99.9999% of the time.
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I apologize. I’m only running 1 Adcom GFA-555.
Thank you for your insight.
 
Jimmyjam16 said:
I apologize. I’m only running 1 Adcom GFA-555.
Thank you for your insight.
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With all of this said, it is still unclear what you want your preamp to do.

You say 3 outputs to run 1 amp. That makes no sense.

How is anyone going to make a meaningful suggestion if what you need is not known?
 
I've noticed that "newbies" have a tendency to misuse the terms inputs and outputs. If I have the gist of things the OP has two inputs in mind.

To OP: Any device that produces any type of signal does so on its outputs. When you connect said device to an amplifier/preamp/receiver it's connected to an input on the amplifier/preamp/receiver.

Just about any preamp available (new or used) will work fine in your situation. If you have no intention of ever playing vinyl you can save money by buying a preamp that does not have a phono stage. If it does, no matter. Perhaps one day you might want to investigate vinyl playback. The capability will already be there.
 
JoeESP9 said:
I've noticed that "newbies" have a tendency to misuse the terms inputs and outputs. If I have the gist of things the OP has two inputs in mind.

To OP: Any device that produces any type of signal does so on its outputs. When you connect said device to an amplifier/preamp/receiver it's connected to an input on the amplifier/preamp/receiver.

Just about any preamp available (new or used) will work fine in your situation. If you have no intention of ever playing vinyl you can save money by buying a preamp that does not have a phono stage. If it does, no matter. Perhaps one day you might want to investigate vinyl playback. The capability will already be there.
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Thank you. I am a newbie of sorts so thank you for dumbing it down for me.
I will not be needing a phono stage. Only going to be running a cd player and maybe some type of Bluetooth device to stream music from my phone.
A friend of mine has a Adcom 555 preamp for sale, $100.
Thanks for explaining
 
JoeESP9 said:
I've noticed that "newbies" have a tendency to misuse the terms inputs and outputs. If I have the gist of things the OP has two inputs in mind.

To OP: Any device that produces any type of signal does so on its outputs. When you connect said device to an amplifier/preamp/receiver it's connected to an input on the amplifier/preamp/receiver.

Just about any preamp available (new or used) will work fine in your situation. If you have no intention of ever playing vinyl you can save money by buying a preamp that does not have a phono stage. If it does, no matter. Perhaps one day you might want to investigate vinyl playback. The capability will already be there.
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I look at it this way, even though technically speaking any preamp could work.

Passive vs active
Tube vs solid state

Passive is the way to go if you don't have a use for things like loudness, tone controls and such and your source has a strong enough of a signal.
Active is the way to go if your source is weak and you need preamplification. Also, if you need tone controls, loudness, filters, balance etc.
Tube is the way to go if you like the tone of tubes.

Generally, my take is that less is best, at least when using solid state. The shorter the path that the signal has to go through, the better the quality of the audio....ie less distortion. In other words, if you don't need balance, cut filters, tone controls, loudness.....don't use a preamp that has them there. Keep the path short.
 
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z-adamson said:
You say 3 outputs to run 1 amp. That makes no sense.
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I interpreted that as "I only need to handle three outputs" or "I only need to handle the outputs of three sources", or something like that.
JoeESP9 said:
I've noticed that "newbies" have a tendency to misuse the terms inputs and outputs.
Click to expand...
Yes. Who would have thought it could be so confusing?

The Adcom power amp doesn't have any specific or unusual requirements in terms of a preamp. Its input impedance is benign (100k) and its input sensitivity is quite normal, so basically any preamp will work fine. The OP just needs to decide what features he wants. For me, I like as few features as possible. A volume control and a source selector would satisfy me. The OP may have different requirements.
 
rothwellaudio said:
The OP just needs to decide what features he wants. For me, I like as few features as possible. A volume control and a source selector would satisfy me. The OP may have different requirements.
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I tried and tried to get him to share with us what he needs the preamp to be able to do. He won’t say for some reason.
 
I’m sorry, I didn’t exactly understand what you meant by “what I wanted the preamp to be able to do”. I would only like for it to have a minimum amount of features. Volume and a source selector is all I need.
I can see why you would be frustrated, I apologize.
 
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