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Preamplifier for Sony TA F7B

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afzi1976

New Member
I am the proud owner of a Sony TA-F7B mated to a pristine pair of Mordaunt Short System 442's. The source is a USB driven Sabre DAC and I use a Cambridge Audio 640a as a preamplifier. Kimber speaker cable, QED silver spiral interconnect.

The gear makes a very nice sound, excellent tonality, pace and imaging. The sound would take a lot of money to match in today's equipment.

I feel the Cambridge Audio is the weak link in the system, and the built in pre (the Sony is a pre/main amplifier with 2 transformers). Any suggestions for a great matching Pre that does the rest of the system justice?

Suggestions welcome.
 
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Thanks for the responses. Vintage Sony preamplifiers are very hard to come by, I also feel that the Sony TA E7B wasn't the best preamplifier ever made.

My budget is upto USD 2,000, and I would consider new, used, SS or tubes as long as it matches well. I do most of my listening through my USB DAC, although I also listen to vinyl quite a lot so a great phono stage will be a plus point.

The key is matching my Sony, and a great resulting system synergy. Thanks
 
My suggestion is to use the inbuilt preamp and spend a fraction of that $2k money just refurbishing the F7B if you haven't already. I agree that on the F7B the power amp section is a little better than the pre, but the pre is still good.

But if you do want to experiment, 2K is a healthy budget so it's hard to narrow down choices. There were some nice audiophile preamps made in the 80's with beautiful phono stages, both SS and tubes. Audio Research, ML, Krell, Electrocompaniet, Adcom, the list goes on and on. There's so much out there, I think the best thing to do check out eBay or your local classifieds to see what's available and go from there.

If you're keen on Sony, how about an 80's/90's ES preamp? The TA-E77ES and TA-E80ES shouldn't be hard to find.
 
Thanks Sam. The Sony is really good which is why I am willing to invest in a pre that complements it to its full potential.

I'm just a bit scared of experimenting on Pre's blind. Would you have a firm suggestion out of the shortlist, perhaps a combination you have heard in the past?

I had tried mating my Sony with the Diatone (Mitsubishi) DA 15s preamplifier which was supposed to be very good, not impressed. I also tried mating it with a Yamaha C75, again not my cup of team. I feel both combos bought the Sony down, sounding slow and lacking life in my perspective.
 
Hmm, OK. You might like a good tube pre to complement the Sony. You could find out what people are using with TA-N7B's—aside from the full blown Sony fans, I think they tend to be people who like the transparency of good valve designs.

As for firm suggestions, I drift towards integrateds so my experience with preamps is a bit limited, but I've used:

-- Sony TA-E86 and E88, not bad but they're becoming overpriced.
-- Yamaha C-2a, also good but you might not like it if you didn't like the C-75.
-- 70's Lux, don't bother if you found the Yamaha slow.
-- 80's Harman Kardon HK825, impressive for the money.
-- 80's Electrocompaniet EC-1, great sounding pre.
-- Adcom, I can't remember the model, it was very good along with the matching power amp—and good value in the States.

Keep your eyes open for something from the big boys: Mark Levinson, Conrad-Johnson, Audio Research, etc. They do make good gear.

And unless you go to a dealer, you're going to have to experiment blind. Everyone listens to music differently, so really their opinions ought to be worth little to you. Anyway, if you don't pay too much for things you can usually sell them for similar money if you don't like them.
 
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Thanks Sam.

I am getting a really good deal on a Mcintosh C34 pre. I'm going to demo it in the next couple of days, I hope it turns out to be a good match.

Adcom sounds interesting, I have heard great things about the 750.
 
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