are preamps unsexy?

Pv-12 is the next pre-amp up !

Maybe the valves were a bit noisy on second thoughts. I have heard that that can be a problem but TBH I've changed the valves in mine several time and never had a problem.
 
badchamp said:
Pv-12 is the next pre-amp up !

Maybe the valves were a bit noisy on second thoughts. I have heard that that can be a problem but TBH I've changed the valves in mine several time and never had a problem.
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can't remember the model no but it matched the pre's price point and styling. I had plenty of problems with it - it dimmed the lights when switched on and sporadically threw an electrical wobbly which tripped the fusebox (admittedly very sensitive back then - since rewired...)! I decided that rebiasing the valves with a screwdriver every session wasn't really for me...
 
Fen Dancer said:
I tried running my Pure DAB tuner with its in-built volume control direct into the power amp. It sounded bloody flat and not at all nice. So that's one reason I'll avoid passive preamps in the future.
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It's a bit harsh to tar all passive pres with the same brush based on the experience of the volume control on a Pure DAB tuner! As it's a DAB tuner the volume control on it is probably digital which is nearly always a very bad thing due to the loss of resolution at anything other than full volume. Even if it isn't it's hardly likely to have a top quality pot is it?

Michael.
 
michaelab said:
It's a bit harsh to tar all passive pres with the same brush based on the experience of the volume control on a Pure DAB tuner! As it's a DAB tuner the volume control on it is probably digital which is nearly always a very bad thing due to the loss of resolution at anything other than full volume. Even if it isn't it's hardly likely to have a top quality pot is it?

Michael.
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Well, that may be the case - but on the face of it if we think in terms of signal sources and signal processors then the DAB tuner emits some sort of signal and it seems a little counterintuitive that passing that signal through another processor should enhance it.

Possibly there are straightforward electrical issues here (is the DAB tuner driving an inappropriate length of wire in one instance and not the other - for example?).

But if a line stage can take something bad and turn it into something good then I think it's a bit suspect (I can understand taking something good and making it bad). It's certainly a long way from "straight wires with gain" - to use an old saying.
 
Maybe the DAB tuner has fixed level outputs for use with a pre which bypass the internal volume control?

When I tried hooking up my iPod via the headphone output directly to my power amp using the iPod's volume control it didn't sound as good as using the line out on the dock via my preamp. IMO that difference can largely be attributed to the digital volume control of the iPod.

Michael.
 
My pre-amp's quite sexy, for an inanimate beast made of metal :D
warlock.jpg

And it's got a lovely knob...
Not only that, but the difference between it and the Lumley passive pre it replaced is (apart from a higher output) there is suddenly an acoustic "shape" to instruments - i.e. the resonance of,say, a violin seems to inhabit it's own defined space to a much greater extent. Sounds poncey, and a bit hifi double-speak, but that's the only way I can describe it!
 
midlifecrisis said:
I demmed one for a week before I got my Orca. Lovely treble and midrange but I found it had quite a high level of 'rice krispies' background noise.
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If that was the case it had the wrong valve s in it,the PV10 is
very fussy about what valves are in it,wrong ones it will hiss,whine and make all sorts of distracting noises,it is a very good pre though.MV50 is the matching power I think.
 
l reckon this is pretty damn sexy;

Blackcab1.jpg


Upgraded from an ARC SP-9 mk 2. Massive improvements in all area's, one of the best pre's l have ever heard. l never realised that a pre could have such a significant effect on your system until now.

Cheers
 
Ah, would that be the mythical Cortese or Syrah ?

Its been on my lust after list for ages (probably in the Jarra ? finish). For obvious reasons virtually impossible to audition in the UK but as my g/f is fed up with my 2 monblocks, transport/dac, I think to then have a 2 box pre aswell would probably push things a little too far :D
 
Yep badchamp, its the Cabernet (line version of the Grange)

Mines revised a little from the pic above, it now runs PX4's in place of the 101d's in that pic. Exceptional pre-amp, if you can wangle an audition, do it :D
 

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