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Recommendation on Preamp

hifitommy said:
when i put my ARC sp3a1 into my system, i never looked back at the adcom gfp565. what you need in a preamp is transparency. the line stage is the HEART of the audio system. so jolida, cj, vtl, arc, whichever, tubes in the preamp will make your system, even with a ss amp such as my adcom 555II.
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This is where I am at Tommy. I have the GFP 565 in front of the GFA 5500 and keep thinking the next step up has to be going tube pre. So you like the ARC that much more? Did you try others?
 
yes, i have tried others. this one completely undid my preconceptions of what a tube component would sound like. no soft top, no mushy and fat, rolled off bottom, no squishy mids.

it is WIDE open (dc to daylight) tight, extended, and detailed bottom. tight and accurately represented mid with imaging and soundstaging the way we would all love to have. and this is all passed nicely unscathed through the supposedly notorious, "bright" adcom gfa555II. so much for stereotypes of both items.

let us knw when you make the jump to light speed.
 
Tom Bombadil said:
I like the Parasound Halo products better than most McIntosh solid state preamps & amps.

As to tube preamps in the $600'ish range, you can sometimes find a Conrad Johnson PV10 or PV10A in that range. Maybe for just a bit more. Nice tube preamp, I tend to like the PV10A a bit more but they are very similar in sound. Don't get a PV10AL as it lacks a phono stage.
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I agree. Parasound Halo is a good preamp and I like it. Let's see if I can get a PV10A.....
 
hifitommy said:
when i put my ARC sp3a1 into my system, i never looked back at the adcom gfp565. what you need in a preamp is transparency. the line stage is the HEART of the audio system. so jolida, cj, vtl, arc, whichever, tubes in the preamp will make your system, even with a ss amp such as my adcom 555II.
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That's what I'm targeting. I've heard that a good Tube preamp with a good class A SS amp will be a good option. I'm also thinking of getting a better speaker and am leaning towards Advent legacy or Dynaco A25
 
Just browsing Audiogon, I see a nice Counterpoint SA-2000 tube pre for $575. I definitely like my tube pre/ss amp combo.
 
Danddd said:
Just browsing Audiogon, I see a nice Counterpoint SA-2000 tube pre for $575. I definitely like my tube pre/ss amp combo.
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There are 4 available even on eBay. I'll finalize soon. Is this a good preamp ? I think it's Hybrid right ?
 
I'm starting think in this same direction. My setup is so forward and bright sounding and completely unforgiving with electrostats. It sounds really really good on great recordings but any sub-par source I'm having issues with finding the same enjoyment. I'll probably try some mods to my Pre first but ultimately a tube pre is where I will find myself eventually.
 
jindra said:
I'm starting think in this same direction. My setup is so forward and bright sounding and completely unforgiving with electrostats. It sounds really really good on great recordings but any sub-par source I'm having issues with finding the same enjoyment. I'll probably try some mods to my Pre first but ultimately a tube pre is where I will find myself eventually.
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Although I like Adcom power amps, most of their preamps and preamp/tuners have not really impressed me. The exception being the GFP-750.
 
JoeESP9 said:
Although I like Adcom power amps, most of their preamps and preamp/tuners have not really impressed me. The exception being the GFP-750.
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Yeah I read really good things about the GFP-750 but it was a bit out of budget for me at the time. I also read good enough things about the GFP-565 and found one pretty cheap locally. I'll try a recap and maybe some mods that are recommended in the time being before I set my sights on a nice tube pre.
 
I've done SS and Tube preamps including McIntosh.

I'd go with a Tortuga Audio LDR3.V2 Passive Preamp -
http://www.tortugaaudio.com/

I run a CD player, Turntable into an Audio Research LP1 pre, Blue Ray, FM tuner and Cable TV box. All have good gain and none need the preamp added gain.

The LDR passive is pretty unreal and best I've ran thus far for my sources
 
I have a Bryston B60r integrated which is essentially a Bryston BP20 pre section . Find a Bryston BP20 used , hell it might still be under warranty !
 
Get preamp with tone controls. In modern world it means McIntosh or Accuphase. If you want to stay vintage - from what I had experience with, I can recommend Yamaha CX-1000 (which I used to have) or C-2X (which I use today). Both have very transparent tone controls and include good phono stage.
 
 
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