Musical Fidelity The Preamp

[nickthechef]

Hi all. Just got my hands on a Musical Fidelity The Preamp which I believe used to belong to Pheonixpete. Whilst search for some info about this amp I stumbled upon this site and found a post about it. He sold it on eBay to a chap who then a few years later sold it to me. In the post photos pheonixpwte has what looks like a valve power amp, does anyone know what it is ?

My system now consists of said preamp with a bit of a vintage technics se-a1000 power amp, pioneer pl12d TT with a Cambridge audio phono stage. All cable talk monitor 2 interconnects. I have a Dacmagic for listerning to spotify as well. A little on the warm side but makes for great listening. Am on the lookout for a class a power amp to drive my new Dali Sensor 3's

[walpurgis]

Welcome Nick. Come on, give us a nice intro and tell us a bit more about yourself, and what music you like.

From what you say I'd not have expected your system to sound too "warm". That may be down to whatever cartridge you're using.
The Pre-Amp is a decent enough unit, but I'm not sure I'd pair it with any Class A power amp I can think of. A passive pre would possibly be better in that application.
I'd imagine your pre-amp would work well enough with your Technics and the pair may probably drive the Dalis OK, although the sound may not be too refined.

(I'd swear I've seen your username before. Are you on any other forums?)


Anyway, enjoy AOS,
Geoff.

[nickthechef]

Hi Geoff,

Don't get me wrong it's not too warm, it does sounds great however i think that the speakers are a little close to the wall - on shelves due to lack of space. I would like to have them in a bigger room on stands really.

The cartridge on the Pioneer is only a cheap Audio Technica AT95E. I would like to move to MC but am a little overwhelmed with the choice and pricing. I have had a look at a Denon DL110 which is about at the top of my budget - any thoughts?

I listen to mostly indy guitar music everything from Joan Armatrading to Pink Floyd and a lot in between. I enjoy a lot of classical music to.
There quite a good playlist on Spotify called Beards & Flannel. Also just discovered an album by Billie Joe and Norah Jones called Foreverly which is a load of Everly Brothers covers which sounds great through my system.

Forgot to mention I also have a Marantz CD player which get pushed through the same DAC and actually sounds rather good. I used to have a Marantz CD67SE which was lovely.

I have found that photo of Phoenixpete's set up - any idea on the valve amp in the middle? Is it his power amp?

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/phoenixpete_2006/P3220058.jpg

[walpurgis]

I've no idea what amp that is. Maybe somebody else here knows?

A DL-110 will definitely sound a bit more 'alive' than your AT95e (which isn't itself necessarily a bad cartridge).
The DL-110 will work OK in your PL-12D and may benefit from a solid aluminium headshell, as opposed to the standard pressed alloy affair.

[Ali Tait]

Looks like a 211 or 845 SE amp.