Great performing Pre Amp in a full size chassis?

[ex audiophile]

Any idea on how it measures? I have never really been one to care so much about this stuff but after being on this forum for a while. I’ve wondered about how a system would sound where no component brings down the whole system in terms of measurements.

I've been exactly where you are, in fact bought a Benchmark stack for streaming. Pure pristine signal, awesome volume control, but nothing to deal with the room, which is always the elephant in the, er... Anyway, I encourage you to give up a bit of SINAD (inaudible) in exchange for DIRAC or ARC. The latter are far more effective, IMO, in achieving better sound via control of room effects.
PS- I kept the AHB2 amps!

 

[Oski1928]

I've been exactly where you are, in fact bought a Benchmark stack for streaming. Pure pristine signal, awesome volume control, but nothing to deal with the room, which is always the elephant in the, er... Anyway, I encourage you to give up a bit of SINAD (inaudible) in exchange for DIRAC or ARC. The latter are far more effective, IMO, in achieving better sound via control of room effects.
PS- I kept the AHB2 amps!

In the hypothetical system I’m building in my mind I have been considering Minidsp products for room correction somewhere in the chain.

 

[Oski1928]

Anthem STR preamp is very attractive, measures well (Audioholics) and a used one should sell for about the cost of a new Benchmark LA4. For me having ARC Genesis has been a major advantage, esp if you use subs. No streamer, DAC can be completely bypassed if desired. HT bypass works seamlessly.

The price is a little steep. Speakers I’ll buy used but I try to avoid buying used electronics. I like to buy open box from retailers so that I can still get a warranty but I think that the Anthem would still be too expensive for me as an open box unit. I have considered the Anthem integrated amp.

 

[Gorgonzola]

Hmmmz... No price given @ Canadian web sites...

ACCUPHASE C-3900 PRECISION PREAMPLIFIER

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Accuphase's founding, the development of a new flagship model to incorporate the entire wealth of the company's experience was begun. Now, after five years, the work is complete. The C-3900 represents an uncompromising harmony of technology and sensibility...

vinylsound.ca

C-3900 Preamplifier

Mimas is an integrated hybrid amplifier intended for high performance audio and home cinema systems. - altitudoaudio.ca - Canada's Home of High-Fidelity

altitudoaudio.ca

"If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it."

 

[Doodski]

"If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it."

It sure is pretty though for a preamp...

 

[AdamG247]

am i reading this right?

OP wants a preamp of a similar cost to a $700 topping

ASR recommends a $50,000 accuphase battleship yamato

Not ASR, just one responding member. Your statement that ASR recommends is slightly out of context maybe. Additionally, the OP did not directly mention price point. He mentioned measurement excellence as a performance range. Hyperbole a little bit Tony….

 

[Gorgonzola]

I have a Hypex preamp here which is 42cm x 34cm x 7.2cm. Would you consider that "normal" size?

Yep, at 42 cm, (16.5"), wide it's what I would call "normal size". Seems to me that this size works best in general to accommodate controls and displays plus adequate rear panel connectors -- smaller sizes tend to seem "crowded". So for comparison the Topping Pre90 suffers from this issue.

Speaking of controls, on the Hypex I'd rather have discrete 'On/Off/Standby' and 'Menu' buttons rather than the push-knob method.

The Hypex would be high on my list if I were looking for a preamp right now. Any word of add-in modules, e.g. phono preamp and/or DAC? Incidentally, add-in capability seems like a great idea though personally I'd prefer more line I/O such as SE outputs.

 

[OldHvyMec]

C-200 and a A-45 were top of the line in the mid 70s. I would have stayed with Accuphase if not for support at the time.
They treated me very well but there was a recall behind front illumination. They wanted me to sent the unit to them from
SE Asia to Japan, when it took 20 minutes to do the upgrade. They were willing to pay for the return but not to send it to them.
I found the whole thing silly and that pushed me to stick with what I had in the USA, Mcintosh. I still have that C20 from 1972.

It was recapped in 2020. It is one of the best sounding preamps I've ever had.. It can have "A" SOUND!!
The bummer it has no remote! I use the tape loop to simi-fix the remote problem. The second issue is cleaning analog pots.
That unit requires a lot of maintenance to sound top notch. It's worth it...

I like MX121-123. They are all top notch preamps. I like Mcintosh and have for over 50 years (now). I'm not that big a fan of
pure Class A amps either. SS or VALVE! Sound is fine the heat is not.

Regards

 

[restorer-john]

I have a Hypex preamp here which is 42cm x 34cm x 7.2cm. Would you consider that "normal" size?

420mm is close to normal enough I guess. Plenty of HiFi was 420mm back in the day.

Pioneer was 420mm
Sansui was 430mm
Sony was 430mm
Akai was 440mm
Yamaha was/is 435mm

And then of course the 460-470mm wood sided products from those brands.

There sure is a lot of wasted space (fresh air) in it. I guess space for the future add-ons.

And why be specifiying the preamplifer's claimed noise and distortion numbers with a 20kHz AES-17 filter? Who does that? Especially for an analogue preamplifer that claims to have a 200kHz bandwidth. It's not a class D amplifier that needs help, or is the little SMPS that bad?