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Solid state preamp recommendations

MotherSky

MotherSky

pfm Member
During the recent absence/service of my Modwright LS100 preamp, I was amazed by the performance of the tiny/cheap Schiit Saga+ that I acquired as a stand in...

Whilst this is, unsurprisingly, comprehensively outclassed by a top quality £5k valve pre, it did make me realise that the combination of a valve preamp and a valve output DAC (Aqua La Scala II - a fairly recent addition to the system) is possibly over sweetening the pill (as it were)

I know from past experience that I could rebalance things by changing the valves (currently NOS RCA red base 5692's), but this is a process that I don't enjoy at all, in addition to the expense and the lingering doubt that the perfect combination is still out there somewhere, it really annoys my better half, who has questioned the need for valve equipment & would (unsurprisingly) prefer a "fit and an forget" solution

So I am considering auditioning/trying out some solid state preamps - budget would be proceeds from selling the Modwright, plus possibly £1000 - up to an absolute maximum of £3.5k used - what might anyone recommend?

System is Garrard 401, Hadcockish/MM3, RCM Sensor 2, Auralic Aries G1 Hoere Wege, Aqua La Scala II (Modwright LS100) Sugden Musicmaster (tweaked by the late Patrick Miller snr) and AN- E Spe-HE blue hemp

Very much in research mode at the moment, and I have to say that the current setup is sounding lovely, but is it just a bit too lovely?


Apologies for all the relative clauses in this post 🙂
 
having had several modwright preamps and the schiit saga / may i wholeheartedly recommend the bel canto pre 5 . you will see a few on here using it. i use it wilh a moon power amp into some very revealing speakers . lovely sound . textured but detailed and organic. the pre 5 is totally analogue . no digital dacs in it .

easily in your budget

belcantodesign.com

Pre5 Preamplifier - Bel Canto Design

belcantodesign.com belcantodesign.com

pinkfishmedia.net

Belcanto : no users ? or still quality material

I notice that Ref 600m’s don’t come up for sale often. There’s a pair on eBay for £3,300. Are they worth 3x more than Ref 1000’s?
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
 
Plus one for the BC Pre5, mine is partnered with a Naim NAP100 and a pair of Tannoy Legacy Eaton speakers and it's a great combo.

The occasional slight harshness I used to hear from the Tannoys is gone, so I guess equipment matching is as important as ever. Still, it gets my vote all day long
 
A couple more to consider. Of course, the required facilities will have a bearing, along with new/used within your budget.

Benchmark LA4

ATC SCA2

The SCA2 is very capable indeed. £7.3k new, but you should be able to source a good used one within your budget.
 
Can recommend SPL Phonitor/Elector etc. new within your budget. Lots of options used for sure… However.. why not AN amps for AN-E?
 
wonder what a ls100 might fetch s/h these days . not seen one for years s/h . been several anniversary recently

they are about 5k rrp
 
hifinutt said:
having had several modwright preamps and the schiit saga / may i wholeheartedly recommend the bel canto pre 5 . you will see a few on here using it. i use it wilh a moon power amp into some very revealing speakers . lovely sound . textured but detailed and organic. the pre 5 is totally analogue . no digital dacs in it .

easily in your budget

belcantodesign.com

Pre5 Preamplifier - Bel Canto Design

belcantodesign.com belcantodesign.com

pinkfishmedia.net

Belcanto : no users ? or still quality material

I notice that Ref 600m’s don’t come up for sale often. There’s a pair on eBay for £3,300. Are they worth 3x more than Ref 1000’s?
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
Click to expand...
I remember hearing good things about the Pre3 - was there someone who offered mods to the VB power supply? That's something I would certainly consider if I could get a listen
 
simon g said:
A couple more to consider. Of course, the required facilities will have a bearing, along with new/used within your budget.

Benchmark LA4

ATC SCA2

The SCA2 is very capable indeed. £7.3k new, but you should be able to source a good used one within your budget.
Click to expand...
I'm sure that these are both technically excellent - my concern would be whether that would be going from one extreme to the other - my previous experience with ATC amplification would lead me to expect rather ruthless treatment of less than perfect recordings, even with the slightly benign nature of my DAC, I think this would possibly be a bit too much of a radical change
 
MotherSky said:
I remember hearing good things about the Pre3 - was there someone who offered mods to the VB power supply? That's something I would certainly consider if I could get a listen
Click to expand...
gosh yes i had the dc3 sean jacobs one specially made but i reckon the pre 5 is pretty good . tony of course does his own psu for these but cables are hard to find . i found the EIX was better than the modded pre 3 vbs i had and it was less than your budget

one other pre i would consider is the esoteric c03x , there was one here recently that sold for about 3.5k , same price as fanthorpes are asking for an old model which is why it hasnt sold

you are not that far from me mothersky so if you ever want to hear both BC pre amps give me s shout
 
yeti42 said:
Tom Evans Vibe maybe but get a demo.
Click to expand...
This is an excellent suggestion - do you have personal experience of one?

I don't intend to buy anything at this sort of budget without trying it first

I've been looking into the Ayre K5-XE MP (not managed to find one yet) and the Esoteric C-03 so far, and the Tom Evans looks like a very interesting alternative

I haven't ruled out a transformer based passive either, but the MF baby ref is going to be out of budget, and I didn't get on the the Classic when I tried one previously

I only need basic facilities - minimum of two inputs, remote would be nice, but absolutely not essential - I certainly don't want a plethora of functions that I have no use for, and the Vibe certainly fits the bill as far as that goes - I will be investigating further 👍
 
MotherSky said:
During the recent absence/service of my Modwright LS100 preamp, I was amazed by the performance of the tiny/cheap Schiit Saga+ that I acquired as a stand in...

Whilst this is, unsurprisingly, comprehensively outclassed by a top quality £5k valve pre, it did make me realise that the combination of a valve preamp and a valve output DAC (Aqua La Scala II - a fairly recent addition to the system) is possibly over sweetening the pill (as it were)

I know from past experience that I could rebalance things by changing the valves (currently NOS RCA red base 5692's), but this is a process that I don't enjoy at all, in addition to the expense and the lingering doubt that the perfect combination is still out there somewhere, it really annoys my better half, who has questioned the need for valve equipment & would (unsurprisingly) prefer a "fit and an forget" solution

So I am considering auditioning/trying out some solid state preamps - budget would be proceeds from selling the Modwright, plus possibly £1000 - up to an absolute maximum of £3.5k used - what might anyone recommend?

System is Garrard 401, Hadcockish/MM3, RCM Sensor 2, Auralic Aries G1 Hoere Wege, Aqua La Scala II (Modwright LS100) Sugden Musicmaster (tweaked by the late Patrick Miller snr) and AN- E Spe-HE blue hemp

Very much in research mode at the moment, and I have to say that the current setup is sounding lovely, but is it just a bit too lovely?


Apologies for all the relative clauses in this post 🙂
Click to expand...
How about a Quad Artera?
 
hifinutt said:
this vibe been for sale for well over a year . seems a bit overpriced in my opinion

www.choicehifi.com

Tom Evans The Vibe & Pulse SEmkII - Choice Hifi

Serviced 1 year ago, latest specification.
www.choicehifi.com www.choicehifi.com

i enjoyed the 3 i had
Click to expand...
I saw that - seems crazily overpriced (Soundcraft are offering the Vibe brand new with free Pulse for £5k) - odd as his prices are usually very competitive - Emporium evidently had a Vibe + Pulse for £3.5k but seemingly someone bought the Pulse

Presumably you were impressed if you kept buying them - I think I've only ever re-purchased the same component once (a Modwright DAC) - 3 times is impressive!
 
You can buy Chinese clones of the FM 115 preamp from Ali Express.They sound superb.For around 200 quid.The real things sell for about 20,000.The only SS preamp I have heard that comes close to very good modern 6SN7 valve preamps.
 
Using a Primare pre60 preamp and
jtgofish said:
You can buy Chinese clones of the FM 115 preamp from Ali Express.They sound superb.For around 200 quid.The real things sell for about 20,000.The only SS preamp I have heard that comes close to very good modern 6SN7 valve preamps.
Click to expand...
Can you help with a link for Ali Express clones?
 
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