WTB: Pre with balanced in and out

[Lawrence001]

I'm looking at a pair of balanced monoblocs and want a pre to drive them. Not something too fancy, good value/sound per pound rather than high end. I wish I'd kept my Django/S&B TVC now but there you go.

I imagine valves would be expensive in a true balanced configuration so assume solid state. Remote very much preferred but not absolutely vital.

I'm not actually that keen on passives either but if a good deal came up I'd try it eg. Khozmo/my Django back!

[Barry]

Are your sources balanced? And what is your budget?

[Lawrence001]

I've got a balanced DAC and I'd prefer to spend £2-300 tops, but since I spent £550 on my last pre (Ming Da) maybe I'm being a bit stingy.

[Lawrence001]

Didn't Josie @The Black Adder try and sell her SPL op amp based pseudo balanced pre last year? I tried to find the ad and couldn't.

[ianlenco]

Hi Lawrence,
I've sent you a pm about a balanced pre I will be putting up for sale soon.

[Barry]

Well there is this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273178002876?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOME SPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D232898%26meid%3D99b6f6 ba63fc40849f7eedfe471cdec3%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4 %26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D123400620247%26itm%3D2731780028 76%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSim plAMLv9PairwiseUnbiasedWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A27317800287699b6f6ba63fc40849f7eedf e471cdec3%7Cenc%3AAQAGAAACABqAJ8eOuANretWUIWfCTwCI 23OFhnZ7%252Bm4dddQX2wg3Z2mN3FaQb8%252FHeiH9RCoiVE gtxVEbgdvsEcpbVj8j021EoYnzoob8GgQqeQ27NWTuG2Yy4JW0 5kV0CmUc4IF31q3yjrbcJs%252B6cXkrFRf0FwGGpBufRrVKKv C8BZ%252FlM700kyHIWntoHmdom5ht9Mb314SvxJiPbmQr3CvO GAKixDklAdluqe8PMrC%252FDyVpF2TTEbrkuI%252FZ%252Bt DGLAPioBT8bXTNNgdzblmGrTE9LEXzDnajZm7oUJ3suji73p5m CKfujgdfN8TofAeZTYg1JuHaG0ZgXEcMYE%252BVdcnSEgWYfB tQKgzoFvfOLRtJdvrALDBZSDCFjnyVShsyUb6bBuDtwUt%252B %252FOkfWYB50ex7WxiyDX2EFAE9BRo0INpFFdkINPhioZAP%2 52FNmRXVhlzzs7eURqZHhP9tvtJ15fjMmK%252B4XLDDUmKw%2 52FjLhkk4yYj4osdwBRqgCWAq7x47%252F8z0s8HWGEGHrAG%2 52FfV%252FxloUH8xFCl8fgw9UbNmemcdAymXHYugDkvbpsMXY uUPUpIirfpDTety5V5PG4IcArNk7C217IOtV4E9or8eN3uC7YN fYdEBgP%252B2WCffpIuFhKYBFBXfNsfmh9wTizY1sF0QTovtV FS8wDR%252BdNVS3pFHvxBkuzkn7SZON%7Campid%3APL_CLK% 7Cclp%3A2047675 for less than £50. But it is not clear to me if the XLR connections are truly balanced, and the use of two sections in the volume control pot, suggests that it is not.

I would go for something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123400620247?hash=item1cbb4008d7:g:QogAAOSwSVdbswy C. It looks to be fully balanced, has attractive cosmetics and good construction; and is just about within your budget. The only feature you may not like is the use of separate volume controls. I'm sure you could obtain one directly without having to go via Poland.

[Lawrence001]

Thanks Barry re your first link, I've thought about that myself but have similar concerns that it might not be true balanced. Of course it's but difficult to attenuate a balanced signal in to get a balanced signal out, but it costs more money and you wonder (eg the pot) where they made the savings.


The second one looks like the Khozmo that I said I'd consider. I've seen a few S/H but they weren't balanced.

The monoblocs have a bridged RCA option so I'm not in a rush. It's just reviews say they sound better balanced so I want to go down that road eventually. I'm happy to wait until a good value option comes up.

[Barry]

Thanks Barry re your first link, I've thought about that myself but have similar concerns that it might not be true balanced. Of course it's but difficult to attenuate a balanced signal in to get a balanced signal out, but it costs more money and you wonder (eg the pot) where they made the savings.


The second one looks like the Khozmo that I said I'd consider. I've seen a few S/H but they weren't balanced.

The monoblocs have a bridged RCA option so I'm not in a rush. It's just reviews say they sound better balanced so I want to go down that road eventually. I'm happy to wait until a good value option comes up.

Are there two RCA sockets on each mono-block amplifier? If there are, one might be non-inverting and the second inverting (I have the same on my Levinson ML-2 mono-blocks), so you could make up a lead with an XLR at one end for your DAC and a pair of phono plugs at the other end.

[Lawrence001]

Yes two RCAs and one XLR. You can use it with one RCA in bridged mode, or one XLR in non bridged mode.

Thinking about it, I've got a so called "bit perfect" digital volume control on my balanced DAC. It's not ideal but might keep me going for a while.

[Lawrence001]

Here are the new amps by the way, hoping to get them on Tuesday [emoji16]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210620/7d4a2d25b068f28c9aa90f915d8c083a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210620/54035ac395bdee47525253eac1709ef7.jpg

[walpurgis]

Nice. I had one (not a pair) and the basic SM-70.

[Lawrence001]

I think I saw your review before I bought them.

[tannoydmt]

I have a Vincent SA-T8 valve preamp which is a true balanced design input to output (unusual for valve pre amps) Below is a review from AbsoluteSound web site where it was their Preamp of the Year two years running.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/tas-188-vincent-audio-sa-t8-preamplifier-sp-t800-monoblock-amplifier

[Lawrence001]

I have a Vincent SA-T8 valve preamp which is a true balanced design input to output (unusual for valve pre amps) Below is a review from AbsoluteSound web site where it was their Preamp of the Year two years running.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/tas-188-vincent-audio-sa-t8-preamplifier-sp-t800-monoblock-amplifierCool PM sent

[Lawrence001]

Still looking, but no rush as I've bought some 3m Audioquest XLRs which can run from my dacs variable XLR outputs to the monoblocs.

[Lawrence001]

Amps in da house and sounding very fine [emoji16]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210623/979e3dcf67e19c09d879b3c9fff00112.jpg

[Lawrence001]

Ruddy hell these are nice now they've warmed up!

[walpurgis]

Yeah, they come on song after about 20 minutes.

[Lawrence001]

Currently running them single ended bridged as my Dac is set to fixed level by internal jumper. It's said they get even better in balanced mode.

One does seem to be a bit warmer than the other, reckon the bias has drifted a bit. If I try and get them serviced in Durham, who is there in the area? Will ask Vince @Vince and Alan @mad-moon.

[Macca]

I had a try of one a couple of years back, couldn't fault it except not really enough power for my speakers/room. But bridging two of them sorts that issue I suppose.

[Lawrence001]

I had a try of one a couple of years back, couldn't fault it except not really enough power for my speakers/room. But bridging two of them sorts that issue I suppose.It seems to plus I don't play my music mega loud. Going balanced is apparently another step up.

I wonder if I could rebias it myself with a multimeter and screwdriver...

[Macca]

I don't really play at high levels either but the room is large and the speakers are 18' from the listening position.

I doubt that using balanced connections will change anything. It's the latest trend I know but that's all it is. There's no advantage to be had unless you are running 20 plus feet of interconnects.

[walpurgis]

I used my single SM-70 Pro unbalanced and it sounded just fine, as did the standard SM-70 (which actually sounds very like the Quad 306).

[stretchneck]

I have an Audio GD Master-9 for sale, slightly higher than your budget, but £850 delivered is cheap. It's a fully balanced design, class A - sounds great.

[Lawrence001]

I have an Audio GD Master-9 for sale, slightly higher than your budget, but £850 delivered is cheap. It's a fully balanced design, class A - sounds great.
Yes nice and could match my dac (but sadly my Audio Gd balanced DAC is in the main system, I need this for my second system. My second Audio Gd DAC is not balanced so I need to use a Breeze Audio DAC there.)

Unfortunately as you say it's rather over my budget.