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Solid state preamp recommendations

I've had 3 SS Pres here over the last 4 years.

Bryston BP26 . Excellent , open transparent , sold it to buy.....
Pass Labs XP30. Brilliant, fast, maybe a tad dry and analytical for some, sold it to buy....
MBL Noble 5011 . Amazing build quailty, great overall sound, strong mids with a hint of tube "warmth".

Trying an Integrated now, simplifing my system.
 
yes that MBL looked fabulous , interesting re the pass being a bit dry and analytical . Not keen on that . John stronzer seems to really have a knack at designing stuff which is smooth but detailed , he seems to get better and better at designing pre amps . Listening last week to supertramp i was struck by the organic and smooth nature of the music that just flowed . If i had a bit more cash i would get the black dac/pre in seconds even if it fails to have xlr inputs
 
Naim 552
Dartzeel NHB
Naim 72 with 821 Avondale boards and Avondale supercap equivalent ps
i liked the 52.. not the 82.
teddy pre-amp good vfm

Dartzeel probably has it by a fraction but I’ve never tried b2b with the same speaker back to back. I quite like what tubes do, and the Dartzeel does something similar to the 552 with a valve phono stage (Tron) in my case. v1 DZ amp.. will update when I can afford it.
 
JB76 said:
Naim 552
Dartzeel NHB
Naim 72 with 821 Avondale boards and Avondale supercap equivalent ps
i liked the 52.. not the 82.
teddy pre-amp good vfm

Dartzeel probably has it by a fraction but I’ve never tried b2b with the same speaker back to back. I quite like what tubes do, and the Dartzeel does something similar to the 552 with a valve phono stage (Tron) in my case. v1 DZ amp.. will update when I can afford it.
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Dartzeel appears to be about £40k? 🤪

Back in the real world, current front runners that I could actually afford - Esoteric C-03 (can't find one, but ought to be in budget)
Denafrips Athena (hopefully going to get to hear one next weekend)
Holo Audio Serene (looking like the most likely contender at the moment)

I did get offered a very fair px deal against an MBL from Audio Emotion (£2.2k for my Modwright) but my better half has vetoed the additional outlay, and I'm picking my battles.....

I will update the thread once a final decision has been made
 
Amber Audio said:
www.fanthorpes.co.uk

Esoteric C-03 stereo Pre-Amplifier in silver - preowned

We have this preowned Esoteric C-03 stereo Pre-Amplifier in silver. It is in very good condition with some marks please see pictures. it comes with original box packaging, manual, remote and mains lead. Unit Serial Number: 140005 £20 Mainland UK Delivery Any queries please do not...
www.fanthorpes.co.uk www.fanthorpes.co.uk
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yes been there for months , hopefully some will buy but its the same price as a co3x which was on here recently too . i guess thats why its not selling
 
Emcee said:
You have one or you have one for sale? I've had it on my short list along with Quad Artera and SPL Elector. I've pretty much eliminated the SPL due to price. If your selling it I'm curious as to why, if not I'd like your impressions.
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The Serene is a very neutral and detailed pre but with none of the harshness often associated with solid state preamps. Having said that, it is a very low distortion device and does not introduce the second harmonic distortion often present in valve preamps. it is a very good preamp and I am only selling it because I found that I couldn't live without a balance control, which, in common with many amps today, the Serene doesn't have.
 
Timcat said:
The Serene is a very neutral and detailed pre but with none of the harshness often associated with solid state preamps. Having said that, it is a very low distortion device and does not introduce the second harmonic distortion often present in valve preamps. it is a very good preamp and I am only selling it because I found that I couldn't live without a balance control, which, in common with many amps today, the Serene doesn't have.
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Thanks, that's pretty much how I pictured it. I'm always wary of anything ''neutral and detailed'' for fear of it tipping my already neutral system into thinness.
On the other hand a bit of air and second harmonic distortion would be welcome.
 
Emcee said:
Thanks, that's pretty much how I pictured it. I'm always wary of anything ''neutral and detailed'' for fear of it tipping my already neutral system into thinness.
On the other hand a bit of air and second harmonic distortion would be welcome.
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Sounds as though you need to buy my Modwright LS100 😉
 
Emcee said:
Thanks, that's pretty much how I pictured it. I'm always wary of anything ''neutral and detailed'' for fear of it tipping my already neutral system into thinness.
On the other hand a bit of air and second harmonic distortion would be welcome.
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The Serene doesn't sound thin, as with any decent preamp, when there's bass in the recording, it lets it all through.
 
Timcat said:
The Serene doesn't sound thin, as with any decent preamp, when there's bass in the recording, it lets it all through.
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I think this is the issue with any fundamentally transparent preamp - it just lets everything through... The slightly "benign" nature of my Modwright was essential in previous configurations of my system - it just adds that bit of sweetness that makes everything sound better. The issue I have now, is that in combination with the valve output stage on my DAC, this effect is exaggerated - hence my interest in the Serene. Leaving aside questions of tonal balance, I think my previous sources would not have been able to withstand such a high degree of transparency... to quote Jack Nicholson "the truth, you can't handle the truth..."
🙂
 
If I had your system I would be all over these

EXPOSURE AMPS

Giving you an excellent serviced example of how so right the design of very good 70's solid state amplifiers were and would go exceptionally well with the equipment you already have.
 
I just remembered another really good affordable SS preamp .The Usher 307A.A friend has one and it combines really well with his Audia Flight Strumento 4 power amp.Better than both the matching Audia Flight Strumento preamp that costs a great deal more and also better than his Mystere 6SN7 valve preamp.I reckon it sounds SS but very good SS with an open,clean and vibrant sound.
 
I'd like to move up within the SPL range. I currently have the very cheap Volume2, and it is very good, but limited to xlr input/output. Maybe the Director MK2.
 
ATC CA2 pre would be very much worth a try, think there was a nice one on the classifieds here.

I don’t think ATC are ruthless & revealing of poor recordings.
 
Emcee said:
I believe there would be a logistics problem. I'm in 120V Canada
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Joking aside, if you want that touch of sweetness without threatening dynamics and resolution, I can unreservedly recommend Modwright preamps - they're not in any way over warm or soft like many older designs - the LS100 is superbly voiced and is just that bit forgiving of any harshness in your source components/poor recordings, the 36.5 is definitely more revealing/neutral.

My current plan is to hang on to the LS100 and run it alongside a high quality SS pre - it may well be that the LS100 stays, or stays with different valves - I have narrowed the field down to three SS contenders, and I intend to make a decision this weekend - I will update the thread for anyone interested
 
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