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40K preamp measurements

Unclevanya

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https://www.stereophile.com/content...ms-momentum-hd-line-preamplifier-measurements

I think what struck me, was the listening review earlier when they claimed they could tell the difference between 16/44 vs 24/96 on the same track... But looking at the noise levels in this preamp I'm thinking confirmation bias.

Also the upgrade $7500 option, has resulted in lower measured performance!

Am I nuts or does the emperor lack clothes?
 

solderdude

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Eyecandy for those that have no idea what to do with their money and like this conversation piece integrated in their even more expensive audio setup.

Looks like the bass control pot is not at its electrical '0' when set at the mechanical '0'.
Of course nobody can hear the difference of + 0.25dB at 20Hz.

I bet it sounds good blind tested and even better sighted.
 

North_Sky

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Blumlein 88

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Yes, yes, $7500 upgrade lowered measured performance, but of course increased subjective performance. The lousy, sucky, Audio Research Ref6 for $15k couldn't keep up in the dynamics, wide band sound, airy extension and general emotional connectedness. The cool winter snow of Minnesota runs threw the veins of the AR preamp design. It does in some ways exceed the performance of my Marantz pre/pro in my video rig, but mostly it doesn't.

The $2599 Benchmark LA4 Line preamp seems to have much better measured results.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-la4-line-preamplifier-measurements

But @Kal Rubinson didn't heap enough gooey praise upon it. He merely indicated set to unity gain the LA4 sounded transparent to the direct bypass. I wonder if the $40k preamp could do that (probably could)? Still when you have transparency your there.
 
OP
U

Unclevanya

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Again not to beat a dead horse, what worries me most is the assertion that high res files sounded better than simple CD quality versions. With the noise floor measured, it's clear that the 24bit part likely played no real role in this. Perhaps the higher sampling rate gave some benefits?

Overall it just seems highly suspect subjective commentary.
 

daftcombo

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Pre-amp so basically just a volume knob, right?
 

blueone

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That is the worst Stereophile review I've read since Dick Olsher was on the masthead.
 

Matias

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I could not believe he chose to deliberate add sub-bass frequencies even in flat mode...
 

SIY

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That is the worst Stereophile review I've read since Dick Olsher was on the masthead.
When people thought that reviewers couldn’t get worse than Scull, Stereophile said, “Hold mah beer!”
 

RayDunzl

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My near-antique Krell (during d'Agostino) pre seems to have more features...

1580483048272.png


... and never cost $40k
 

House de Kris

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When people thought that reviewers couldn’t get worse than Scull, Stereophile said, “Hold mah beer!”
I stopped reading Stereophile when I couldn't stomach Scull an further. You mean it actually got worse? Hard to fathom. And no, I don't wish to click the link above and increase their hit counter making them think they're successful.
 

617

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Looks like an espresso machine.

Well, it certainly looks expensive. I prefer the Lamm and Placette stuff, which is expensive but looks nondescript.
 

Dialectic

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Again not to beat a dead horse, what worries me most is the assertion that high res files sounded better than simple CD quality versions. With the noise floor measured, it's clear that the 24bit part likely played no real role in this. Perhaps the higher sampling rate gave some benefits?

Overall it just seems highly suspect subjective commentary.
It's not merely suspect: it's totally worthless. Jason Victor Serinus cannot (and would never even try to) distinguish high-resolution audio from CD-quality in a non-sighted test.

A brief comparison of Serinus's reviews with the accompanying post-review measurements demonstrates conclusively that the man has no idea what he's hearing and that his preferences lean, more or less automatically, toward whatever gear is most expensive.
 

RayDunzl

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