Tell me your best preamp

[pseudoid]

You know how some people have enough space in their brains to remember/recall things, when it is appropriate? I am not a member of that fraternity!
I believe in writing information down - using OneNote® - instead of writing them in my memory-cells… since mine appear to be built around unreliable DRAMs.
TL&DR version of my FM tuner searches - in over a decade - is this extract from my OneNote®:
*Magnum Dynalab MD-90SE (XLRs)
*Magnum Dynalab MD-1FM (XLRs)
*McIntosh MR87 (XLRs)
Arcam Diva T61
*Denon DN-300DH (XLRs)
*Denon DN-300ZB (XLRs)
*Denon Professional DN-350UI (XLRs)
Pro-Ject Tuner Box S3 DAB+
Parasound Ztuner V2
*Rolls HR78X (XLRs)
*Rolls RS81B (XLRs)
Rotel - T11
RCF MS-1033 (CD/MP3/FM)
TEAC T-R650DAB
Yamaha T-S500BL
Some tuners that used to be on my radar are super expensive; others are price-to-performance losers; few have been discontinued... and FM-music got left behind while digital alternatives flourished.
Last tuner I had was a Luxman T-1.
Link for tuner aficionados.

 

[rdenney]

Yeah, I forgot who I was talking to

But I thought you were asking about tuners that could be connected to the RCA inputs on your Rotel pre-pro, which would shorten your list considerably.

By the way, if you dig into the site you linked, you’ll see my comparison of the Carver and the Proton, both of which are good values for what’s left of FM radio. But the Carver has a better receiver.

FM radio is generally bad enough that subjective reviews aren’t a complete waste of time. And selectivity is easy to test even qualitatively—one either receives the weak station adjacent to the strong one or not. Even the stereo effect is so screwed up by most radio stations that differences are substantial and obvious.

Rick “listens to radio for variety exploration untainted by algorithms, not for the highest fidelity” Denney

 

[Duke]

Superphon Revelation Dual Mono, if old school counts.

Anybody on the forum old enough to remember this one? I got mine 1984 I believe.

TON of gain, but one downside was the dual volume controls made it hard to balance at low listening levels.

I had a Superphon Revelation too, the word "Basic" seems to be in my memory, but it was Dual Mono. Same year as yours. Having to constantly fine-tune the two volume control knobs way down at the low end of their range drove me nuts. I was always hearing that center vocalist pulled just a little bit to one side or the other because the volume pots were not particularly linear, nor particularly well-matched, way down at the bottom end of their range. Or maybe because I was an obsessive-compulsive with a bad case of audiiphilia nervosa. The high voltage sensitivity of my speakers (homebrews with stacked Strathearn ribbons) didn't help because I pretty much never got out of that low end of the volume pot region.

 

[jim1274]

I had a Superphon Revelation too, the word "Basic" seems to be in my memory, but it was Dual Mono. Same year as yours. Having to constantly fine-tune the two volume control knobs way down at the low end of their range drove me nuts. I was always hearing that center vocalist pulled just a little bit to one side or the other because the volume pots were not particularly linear, nor particularly well-matched, way down at the bottom end of their range. Or maybe because I was an obsessive-compulsive with a bad case of audiiphilia nervosa. The high voltage sensitivity of my speakers (homebrews with stacked Strathearn ribbons) didn't help because I pretty much never got out of that low end of the volume pot region.

I’m pretty sure the “Basic” operation was identical except for seperated circuit boards for each channel on “dual mono”. That was pre-internet days and I exchanged letters with Stan Warren himself, getting the capacitors from him to re-cap mine. It was really hard to part
with it, but could see no future use now thst I’m all digital with everything served to zones on a Roon server rig. I try to not put anything on “the shelf”, a hard thing to with something bought in 1984–took until a couple years ago fo finally let it go. I still have 1984 vintage speakers though, only surviving the “purge” because still in service.,,

 

[restorer-john]

Streamers and DACs and even preamps with digital volume controls have been around since forever, not sure I've ever heard of one glitching. And if you worry, simply always turn on the preamp first and poweramp second.

It's a real and ongoing problem, whether you choose to admit it or not.

Digital volume controls have not been around 'forever'. The first came on CD players in the mid 1980s, and they were terrible. And they sometimes randomly defaulted to 0dB. Anyone using a DAC straight into a wide open power amplifier is fool IMO and will be digging his voice coils out of the drywall soon enough.

As for modern DACs, AVRs and processors- they are known to exhibit this issue.

 

[sigbergaudio]

It's a real and ongoing problem, whether you choose to admit it or not.

Digital volume controls have not been around 'forever'. The first came on CD players in the mid 1980s, and they were terrible. And they sometimes randomly defaulted to 0dB. Anyone using a DAC straight into a wide open power amplifier is fool IMO and will be digging his voice coils out of the drywall soon enough.

As for modern DACs, AVRs and processors- they are known to exhibit this issue.

Since I wrote this I actually had a DAC with built-in preamp have this exact glitch, so I will eat my hat.

 

[Mikig]

I usually use a Khozmo passive (attenuator) in my system.
I tried this route and for now I find the system very pleasant.
The passive should be totally transparent, so it reinforces the choice of a DAC like my DO300, very transparent.
It also allows me to set the DAC source to 0db, regardless of the system volume, and therefore use its full performance.
In fact, the tests of these DACs have highlighted how the best performances are obtained at maximum volume, so this means that if used as a preamplifier, up to 0db we would never be in the ideal range.

 

[stadsbeplanner]

KM Labs SP-100 from the 1980s.
If i find another will buy it without thinking twice.

 

[egellings]

I'm biased; my favorite preamp is my two-box home brew.

 

[Brian Hall]

Schiit Saga S. The good one without dumb tubes.

 

[Bozon]

Benchmark's LA4

 

[egellings]

Well -- anything installed before an amplifier could be argued (grammatically/syntactically) to be a preamplifier, no matter what it does (or what it doesn't), given the meaning of the prefix pre.
We can talk about pre-breakfast exercise, e.g., which presumably doesn't include eating.

This being "said" (written ), I actually tend to agree and indeed I typically refer to my own (ahem) passive preamp as an attenuator and source selector.

Amusingly enough, and on topic for this thread, I was just spewing some babble about my choice of preamplification device(s) in another thread.

Tube Preamp for Benchmark AHB2 or Class D/SS Poweramp?

It's a fairly dumb thing to do, but one thing no one has mentioned yet. Tube preamps like to drive tube power amps because they have high input impedance. Solid state power amps have much lower input impedance than tube power amps. And tube preamps have higher output impedance than solid...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Tube Preamp for Benchmark AHB2 or Class D/SS Poweramp?

It's a fairly dumb thing to do, but one thing no one has mentioned yet. Tube preamps like to drive tube power amps because they have high input impedance. Solid state power amps have much lower input impedance than tube power amps. And tube preamps have higher output impedance than solid...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I 'spoze. Pre as something that comes before something else. Then you could call the interconnect carrying a signal to the device that, too.

 

[mhardy6647]

I 'spoze. Pre as something that comes before something else. Then you could call the interconnect carrying a signal to the device that, too.

"interconnect" = extremely passive preamp.
Except... you know... those ones with batteries and/or little black boxes in-line.

 

[egellings]

"interconnect" = extremely passive preamp.
Except... you know... those ones with batteries and/or little black boxes in-line.

I'll bet it's a very low distortion one, though. That has to be worth something.

 

[Cgs0409]

How do y’all feel about the Emotiva PT2 preamp? It doesn’t have balanced connections but does have a lot of features.

 

[Joe Smith]

How do y’all feel about the Emotiva PT2 preamp? It doesn’t have balanced connections but does have a lot of features.

I keep looking at the PT1and PT2 as the value seems high. But have not pulled the switch yet. Still waiting to see what Schiit or Fosi may do. I'd like a slightly smaller form factor one that would mate well with some of the smaller Class D amps. With the Saga S gone, the PT1 seems to me to be THE preamp value prop for the moment. PT2 adds even more features as I recall.

 

[Kimbrough Xu]

Schiit Saga S. The good one without dumb tubes.

Why do you think it is the best?

 

[Brian Hall]

Why do you think it is the best?

Five inputs, two separate outputs. Nice remote control. No dumb tubes to distort the sound.

 

[Kimbrough Xu]

Five inputs, two separate outputs. Nice remote control. No dumb tubes to distort the sound.

So what your repuirement for a preamplifier is multi inputs and outputs, and a remote control to control the volume conveniently?

No other features do you need? Such as tone controls, dsp and Room correction?

 

[celt]

Benchmark's LA4