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Apt Holman Preamplifier Review (vintage Audio)

Doodski

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I don't know if mine is decentralized. My problem the last 18 months is a floating configuration. I've multiple possibilities with different advantages. I can swap over in a couple minutes or less to each. This is mostly on the digital source end, the playback end is stable. I think it will evolve into a home network distributed system that my good Stereo can access in various ways.
Can it be done without a cel tel and still be and have the control distributed around the abode? Access from rooms integrated into the system or does that require new construction, new design and hardware installation? Can it be full wireless and not require a cel tel accessing via internet service?
 

Doodski

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Same here. I don't see myself giving up on my physical media until I am really old, and maybe even then, I won't.

There's way too much joy to be had, getting out an absolutely mint CD, one perhaps I've had for nearly 40 years and listening to it. Playing the same ripped track via a device attached to my network and controlled by a stupid phone or tablet just has zero satisfaction for me.

Walking across the room to operate a volume control or change a track is also what I like. Most of my newer vintage gear is of course remote, but the remotes languish in the drawers (batteries removed). The only thing I want in my hand while listening to music is a glass of red wine and maybe the next disc in my impromptu evolving playlist du jour.
Seems like you are a bit of a romantic.
 

restorer-john

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And I really like that they added DIY schematics for measuring noise and phono if your equipment lacks.

The inverse RIAA and the gain stage, both with PCB artwork. Love it. I'd buy one just for that. ;)
 

EJ3

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Yes, I skimmed and scanned it and it's nice. Telephone number on the front page. I like where they recommend a Tektronix O-scope or a HP, a Simpson 260 multimeter, HP 3580A (they are still in use today.), a list of the hand tools required. The only thing missing in the recommended test gear is a Sencore Cricket transistor/FET tester. I loved that device, I had a very well used one handed down to me by a old techy that said this is what is needed and it saved my donkey many times. If you don't have one I recommend getting one for your lab. :D

Most of those features aren't needed anymore. Would only need a buffer. Possibly a little gain. Volume control and a source selector.
I have 2 of them because I use every bit of one & run the phono pre-out of second into aux of the first one.
 

EJ3

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Seems like you are a bit of a romantic.
No remotes for the music side of the system, no cell phone control (the cell signal is iffy, anyway [even using Verizon, calls are occasionally dropped & frequently one can only hear every other word]). Remote control? Only for the TV/video part of the system.

The house has had a hard wired intercom system (yes, it uses tubes) through out it's 3 stories since it was built in 1964 (for [baby?] monitoring, for front door communication, for music in every area?). I was 8 when we moved here upon the completion of this house. (I have friends that were born in the house that they currently live in).

The stairs of the house are open to the living room, if I want the music on any floor, I can just turn it up. Or I can turn the monitoring of the intercom system on & send it to other rooms.

If music is on, it's because the music being played is the music that I put on because that is the music that I want on.
I do want to start digitizing my music, however.

No streaming service. I get 36 channels of HD over the air TV. For Free. And twice that for great FM.

A 3rd story chimney top antenna is a great investment when you are not in a city (which I hope to never be near). But the city is encroaching in this direction. Maybe one day I will have to move further out. So I can continue to grow & hunt my food & have my horses, dogs, etc. So far the covenants allow me to keep doing that.

I see that AT& T are running a fiber optic cable toward me, perhaps, if it gets to here, that may change some things.
 

Schollaudio

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What refurbishments have been done? Are the opamps the originals, if not what are being used now?

Mostly even order distortion looks good.
 

iraweiss

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A lot of equipment from the 1980's had excellent noise and distortion performance. You can read reviews from publications like Audio, High Fidelity and Stereo Review from their inception as magazines until they stopped publication (or in the case of Stereo Review changed to Sound & Vision). You can find them at https://worldradiohistory.com/ I read through them over many weeks. You could even find receivers with .005 percent distortion from ... wait for it... JC Penney! We really have moved backwards.
 

sacguy231

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I've always wanted to try this model. I love older preamplifiers because modern ones normally don't have all the features of the past (tape loops, external processor loops, tone controls, switched outlets, etc.). For someone like me, who still listens to a multitude of formats, including compact cassette, records, CDs, radio, and minidisc, there's a real joy having all the buttons and bells and whistles in these older preamps that serve as the "command center". I have a small collection of various preamps and like them all for different reasons. I feel like manufacturers have really cheaped out on features, not to blame them entirely because I suppose it's a response to the audiophile trend that seems to shun any alteration of sound. I can appreciate that some people are the opposite, and just want their preamp to attenuate the signal, but rooms and ears are all vastly different so I like having the ability to use a preamp that has more than a simple volume and balance knob. Some of my faves include my Pioneer C91, Mcintosh C712, and my DBX CX1. I got a NAD 1300 that was fully restored last year, and I love it. The tone controls are well thought out and are incredibly useful. By now, most of these vintage units require some restoration, but I think the $$ is well spent to bring them back to life if you appreciate any of those older features. There's also a tactile joy that comes from using them, often lost on more modern gear.
 

Joe Smith

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I've always wanted to try this model. I love older preamplifiers because modern ones normally don't have all the features of the past (tape loops, external processor loops, tone controls, switched outlets, etc.). For someone like me, who still listens to a multitude of formats, including compact cassette, records, CDs, radio, and minidisc, there's a real joy having all the buttons and bells and whistles in these older preamps that serve as the "command center". I have a small collection of various preamps and like them all for different reasons. I feel like manufacturers have really cheaped out on features, not to blame them entirely because I suppose it's a response to the audiophile trend that seems to shun any alteration of sound. I can appreciate that some people are the opposite, and just want their preamp to attenuate the signal, but rooms and ears are all vastly different so I like having the ability to use a preamp that has more than a simple volume and balance knob. Some of my faves include my Pioneer C91, Mcintosh C712, and my DBX CX1. I got a NAD 1300 that was fully restored last year, and I love it. The tone controls are well thought out and are incredibly useful. By now, most of these vintage units require some restoration, but I think the $$ is well spent to bring them back to life if you appreciate any of those older features. There's also a tactile joy that comes from using them, often lost on more modern gear.
Yeah, that's the main reason I keep and rotate in my NAD 1020 and the Nikko Beta 20. And why I rotate a number of receivers/integrateds in my house systems, some restored, some not. I don't normally need a lot of preamp control but it's definitely nice to have on the setups where I have multiple inputs and where I am set up for taping. The Nikko has rack ears but is a really nice looking Pre and was made very well, it's probably the one I will put money into someday (bought for $50 at an audio garage sale locally).
Nikko Beta 20.jpg
 

rdenney

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They never would unfortunately. The feature set is pretty much normal to us older guys, but it would be a tough sell to people these days.

No need for bi-directional tape dubbing or alternate tape monitoring (no three heads decks to worry about). Tuner? Who uses one these days? Two turntables?- most people have none. And no hipster is going to waste time with measuring responses with different cartridge loading like we did.

The Holman's performance is good, not excellent and certainly not state of the art in the late 1970s, letalone now. But it is riddled with a cascade of circuit elements as it was clearly designed as individual optimised components, not as a holistic preamplifier from end to end. It's circuit design is reminiscent of an old skool tube preamp, with more coupling capacitors than I have ever seen from source to output in one product. No wonder its low end repsonse is as poor as it is.

Even in the most direct route, we have nine (9) coupling caps from phono to line outs.

The phono overload is very disappointing on this Holman, it's rated at over 100mV and we see a 1kHz overload at a paltry 80mV. Sure 100mV can be achieved at 1%, but there were plenty of preamplifiers out there with 300-400mV overloads at the time.
The frequency response should be ruler flat, but it just cannot be with the design. We see rolloff commencing at 200Hz.

I like the TI TL-072 Jfet opamps, even if they are run right on their max voltage edge, they are a classic and it's pretty amazing to see the entire preamp is run from a single pair of regulators uA-7818/7918 (+/-18V). No fancy individual channel discrete regulated supplies here- it's about as cheap and simple as you could get. And yet it works pretty well.

I really wish someone in the US close to Amir could send him the old Japanese classics of the same era, such as the Yamaha C-2/2a/2x, Denon PRA-1000/2000/3000, Kenwood LO-7c/7cii, Sony TAE-86/86B, Technics SU-9070/9200/9600 etc. Surely some of you guys have some in your collections?

Yup. Nobody needs two tape loops (or even one) any more, though one can be expanded with external passive switching devices if necessary, at the expense of complexity.

And few buy preamps with phono sections any more, being convinced in the "modern" era that only separate phono preamps are worth anything.

A used Apt Holman is about the same money as a Topping Pre90 with input extender, after spending the money to refurbish the Apt. For a person with only a DAC, maybe a CD player, and (living large) an external phono preamp as sources, that would make a lot more sense, it seems to me.

When I was shopping for a preamp recently, I was down to an Apt Holman and a B&K MC-101. The Apt has two tape loops (I really need three), and the B&K only one. Both have a processor loop. The B&K has much more headroom on the phono input. It uses the same TL-072 op-amps as the Apt, with about the same voltage (15 volts regulated, with separate regulators for each channel). B&K apparently rated it at its worst performance--20 KHz--but as Amir's test shows, the op-amps themselves show very low distortion (considering their age) when putting out voltages at the level where we are able to discern the most--up to three or four hundred millivolts.

I went with the B&K because of two things: 1.) it was newer by a dozen years and therefore less likely to need a refurb, and 2.) the line amp can be bypassed (though I doubt I'll ever use that--we'll see once I try it with the more powerful amp coming my way).

Edit: BUT, the B&K lacks that superb user and service manual, and that's something I'm missing.

Rick "who almost bought that Apt Holman Amir mentioned that was on ebay" Denney
 
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dr0ss

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I got a NAD 1300 that was fully restored last year, and I love it.
I have a 1700, which is essentially a 1300 with a tuner, and am very fond of it. The distinctive tone controls are fun to play with. What did you have done to your 1300?
 

don'ttrustauthority

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Apt Holman vintage preamplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and has been refurbished by QuirkAudio.


Conclusions
The owner who sent me this has a knack for finding these past jewels with excellent engineering. Their performance post refurbishing is extreme good even by today's standard which sadly has sled backward. Hopefully no one sheds a tear next time I complain about an audio product producing SINAD of 70 dB and such which this level of performance was achieved years ago.

I am happy to recommend the Apt Holman preamplifier. I see one on ebay for $550 although it will likely need thorough service like the sample I tested.
See now you understand why I like tubes. This is state of the art for me so if the tubes or r2r matches it, I'm think good.
Is it true that for some reason they don't weigh the results for human hearing around here.
 

don'ttrustauthority

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Yup. Nobody needs two tape loops (or even one) any more, though one can be expanded with external passive switching devices if necessary, at the expense of complexity.
I actually do need a tape loop for my Schiit Loki tone control/equalizer deal. I don't want to put it between the dac and amplifier. I want to use it with all my sources to work with my speakers on a tape monitor loop in my amplifier.
 

rdenney

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I actually do need a tape loop for my Schiit Loki tone control/equalizer deal. I don't want to put it between the dac and amplifier. I want to use it with all my sources to work with my speakers on a tape monitor loop in my amplifier.
What anyone with your use case really needs is a processor loop. The difference is that the processor loop is in the playback chain, while the tape loop is upstream from that. If you put an EP on a tape loop, you leave the Tape Monitor switch always on and select sources with the Record selector. Some preamps make that a lot less fun than others. But with the processor loop, you select using the standard source select controls. Most preamps with processor loops had defeat switches for them, too.

Of course, the Apt Holman has a processor loop in addition to the tape loops. So does my B&K, and so do both the Adcoms and also the SAE in my pile o'stuff. The Kenwood Basic C1 does not; neither does the Onkyo Integra P3040 that's currently in the fixit pile.

Most people using a DAC with a preamp like the Topping Pre90 are doing EQ in the computer, but of course that's not downstream from the other sources.

Rick "agreeing that between the preamp and the amp isn't the best place, mostly because active preamps with a lot of gain can overload the inputs of many processors too easily" Denney
 

sacguy231

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I have a 1700, which is essentially a 1300 with a tuner, and am very fond of it. The distinctive tone controls are fun to play with. What did you have done to your 1300?
It was fully recapped. I had a 1700 for a bit, yep basically identical save for the tuner and remote on yours. I love the tone control turnover points. Most tone controls are an afterthought, or have the generic 100 Hz bass and 10,000 Hz treble turnovers, which I've never found particularly useful for my own needs. But, a little boost at 50 Hz can be magic for the right speakers.
 

pseudoid

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This was (and is) a truly excellent preamp that, teamed with a Hafler amp and various input devices,....Until my ex- took it to spite me in the divorce. Sigh....
Is that like the "Revenge of the W.A.F."?:confused:
EDIT: Here is a very popular Kenwood speaker of the time. Expensive and often peeps bought 4 of them.
202111_KenMac.jpg
Hmmmmm. Twins from different parents?
I sounds like too many of us were reading Audio Magazine in the late '70s and early '80s to make such brands brands with cult-ish following.
 

PeteL

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What anyone with your use case really needs is a processor loop. The difference is that the processor loop is in the playback chain, while the tape loop is upstream from that. If you put an EP on a tape loop, you leave the Tape Monitor switch always on and select sources with the Record selector. Some preamps make that a lot less fun than others. But with the processor loop, you select using the standard source select controls. Most preamps with processor loops had defeat switches for them, too.

Of course, the Apt Holman has a processor loop in addition to the tape loops. So does my B&K, and so do both the Adcoms and also the SAE in my pile o'stuff. The Kenwood Basic C1 does not; neither does the Onkyo Integra P3040 that's currently in the fixit pile.

Most people using a DAC with a preamp like the Topping Pre90 are doing EQ in the computer, but of course that's not downstream from the other sources.

Rick "agreeing that between the preamp and the amp isn't the best place, mostly because active preamps with a lot of gain can overload the inputs of many processors too easily" Denney
What do you mean "in the playback chain" and what difference does it make in term of signal routing? You feel the tape monitor button degrade the signal?
 

lostinbostom

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Thanks, Amir nice review. I bought an upgraded Holman from Quirk Audio a couple of years ago. Peter does great work. I go through a lot of equipment and this one always finds its way back into the rack.
 

restorer-john

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What do you mean "in the playback chain" and what difference does it make in term of signal routing? You feel the tape monitor button degrade the signal?

It depends on the implementation. Some do degrade the signal. This Holman has active buffered tape outs which increase the noise very slightly, but offer a decent drive to the processor, whereas unbuffered tape outs load the source.

Personally, I prefer a separate rec-out selector which can route any source to the tape outs, all sources are actively buffered AND can be set to off. Better implementations also shut down the phono stage altogether when it is not being used as it can put noise into the line inputs.

Yamaha CX-1000 (internet pic)
1637620994650.png
 
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