Onkyo Pre-Amp order

TOM1040

TOM1040

Well-Known Member
Are there any out there who could advise me on the sonic differences between the Onkyo Grand Integra P-308 and the Integra P-388F. I will have both (tomorrow) but I would like some comments on which would sound better in a dedicated two channel system. Is there some sort of quality order that Onkyo Pre-Amps have?
Thanks in advance.
 
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Onkyo is some great sounding gear!
AKer theophile has really raved over the quality of his recently acquired 1977-82 P-303 ($410).
The 1986-91 P-308 Grand Integra sold for $660.
The 1993 P-388F Integra sold for $1,245.
You're going to have the best choice from two excellent preamps.
 
TOM,
Congratulations on your acquisitions.:thmbsp:
You must realise that you are in the prime position to inform us as to,both how those two Onkyo units sound in isolation,and how they sound compared to one another.
We eagerly await your asessment.:yes:
As Bully stated I just got an Onkyo P-303 preamp a month ago,and I think it is an excellent preamp,which I would broadly compare sound-wise to a "stock" Kenwood 700C.
Anyone who knows my tastes in gear,knows that's a high compliment.:music:
I've never heard(or seen) either the 308 or the 388.After hearing the P-303,I'd love to hear them.
Therefore I will await your asessment of them.
My advice;leave each unit in your system for a least a week before settling on your verdit,since in my experience vintage gear changes a lot in sound quality as it settles-in.Don't rush your verdict.
Don't fret if you can't pick any difference between the two units,some gear just does sound alike.Simply tell us what you hear.We'll welcome your input.:thmbsp:
 
Update

The Onkyo P-388F mated to a Onkyo DX-788F cd player via balanced connectors is a match that a am quite thrilled with. The sound coming thru the Infinity Kappa's is dynamic, smooth and just fantastic. I will never go back to the lesser pre's again.

I was used to adjusting the bass, treble, eq, ect. to try to tune in the best during listening sessions but the P-388F has no such adjustments-pure direct signals which are simply stunning to me.

The P-308 & P-304 are good pre's also but I'm sticking wiht the P-388F.
 
Last year I replaced my very old (c. 1980) Onkyo A-25 amp and T-15 tuner with newer and better Onkyo gear from the late 80's - early 90's. After all these years, they still worked perfectly, but lacked enough inputs all the sources we have these days. I wanted to be able to run tape, CD, TV sound, etc, without swapping around cables.

I now have a P-3200 with M-5140 power amp for my main system and could not be happier.

Other Onkyo in that system are an Onkyo DX-C370 CD changer (6 cd carosel), and a T-4500 tuner with filter mod.

I am a very happy camper.
 
I have the P-388 (Japanese version of the P-388F) and it just kills any other pre I've heard. Instead of dropping to lower levels of performance and quality as the years progressed--Onkyo was one of few manufacturer's that actually refined their staple models all the way into the mid 90's culminating in what are the M-588 and P-388 amp/pre-amp sets. With balanced outputs to the amp--the sound is so clean and rich you would be hard pressed to find a better boutique pre-amp at 3 times the price. These were a good deal when sold in the early 90's for $1,200 plus-- making them a super steal today if you could snag one for less than $600 and a super-duper-duper-duper (did I mention super-duper?) steal if you could get one along with the matching M-588 amp for $200 like I did!:D :D :D
 
Anyone ever see an Onkyo P-3099 preamp?

I passed on one of these a few weeks ago because it had been dropped and the sheetmetal case was deformed. It had theI rosewood sides, and was *very* heavy. I think it had the Integra lable as well, but I am not sure. Looked like a very nice unit, but I have too much stuff to take on another project... I Googled it but had no luck.
 
The Onkyo products from the late 1980's to the mid 1990's were of very high quality. I was fortunate enough to get an absolute mint M-588F/P-388F pair for $800 CDN ($900 including shipping and insurance) recently. They have a natural ease about them that I have found only matched by very expensive tube equipment. The only problem is that this great gear is getting harder and harder to find. I have had a devil of a time trying to find the associated components like the DX-788f, DX-C909, T-488F, CP-1280F, TA-207, TA-RW909, etc. And let's not talk about the Onkyo Scepter series of speakers. I am not sure if they showed up in North America.
 
P-3099 :thmbsp:
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Very nice quality, I prefer it over the P-3890. :yes:
 
Please post follow up! The Onkyo DX-7711 is a very good CDP and a better transport. Been looking for more Integra, too.
 
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