View Full Version : Pre Amp suggestions !
Pure_Carbon
29-09-2021, 08:04
I've always liked a system with sizzle and snap, as a drummer , need snares and cymbals to sound realistic , tight tuneful bass etc.
Recently I've suffered a car crash that has lead to loss in the upper mids hearing wise.
My current 2 x Pres no longer seem to be sounding right.
The Bryston BP17 cubed has always been fast, but lacks the depth and soundstage i need, and the MBL 5011 has the depth , imaging and soundstage , but is a bit rolled off on the top.
I would prefer balanced outputs too, but not essential.
Don't want thin and lean, save that for my women :-)
So any thoughts?
I'm a Solid State man, but happy to try a valve pre that offers all I'm looking for.
Suggestions so far have been ARC Ref 3 or 5 , LS 27.
TRON
Ayre
PS BHK
Michi P5
Pass labs.
Getting hold of decent , not daftly expensive examples to try is difficult.
Budget is around £5k.
walpurgis
29-09-2021, 08:24
Hmm. As you've recently suffered your hearing impairment, maybe it's not your system to blame for your dissatisfaction in what you're hearing. I'd suggest going to hear some live music and see how your ears cope with that. Maybe some form of compensation could help, say in the form of a studio quality, multi-band graphic equaliser?
Firebottle
29-09-2021, 10:00
That's a healthy budget.
Frankly though I wouldn't have thought the MBL 5011 would have any problem across the frequency range from looking at the specs.
Could it be your hearing deficiency that is now leading you to believe there is a problem with your kit?
Do you have a fellow audiophile friend that can give a second opinion in situ? There are a few around Cardiff, maybe give a shout out on here?
hifinutt
29-09-2021, 10:01
Ref 5 is very old now , at least 10 years . even the 5se is getting old . 5k might be under budget for one of them . ls27 rarer than rockin horse ... oxford audio have a ls28 they might let you try . they have tried to sell it for months now , one went for 3k though recently on ebay
I would echo geoffs thoughts too
you could add a mfa baby ref to your list . thats an amzing pre amp . a few about but often no remote
Pure_Carbon
29-09-2021, 10:34
It's been 18 months, and I've been to an audiologist, there's definitely a big drop out in certain frequencies.
I don't believe there's any deficiency in the system, it's my ear , I know that !
I've heard the LS28 can be a bit polite, which I don't need ?
Agreed, a professional equaliser or a pre with tone controls could be the answer.
I did try an old Accuphase some time ago, had tone controls, was a bit clinical , but was a vintage model.
Get an EQ unit, you won't solve this problem by changing pre-amps. All pre-amps will have a flat response unless they're complete rubbish.
My view, especially with SS amplifiers, and discussed and confirmed with a friend earlier today, is that they are really a problem solved. Most specs are well beyond audible problems, and he and I focus on speakers as a main variable.
Your list of what to me are very expensive pres, seem to be in excess of what is needed to me, and to change a pre will not address any hearing change you have had. Hearing is variable, and you may find that it can recover, mine has to an extent.
Accuphase does a wonderful digital graphic, but at a cost. I was considering one, mainly for room correction.
I would agree that the only way to help compensate for the loss "at some frequencies" is to use a graphic equaliser. However most professional graphic equalisers only have a boost/cut range of +/- 12dB at most, which may not be sufficient.
Can't really comment on your hearing loss (Sorry to hear)
But can vouch for the PS BHK as a 'drummer's amp though.
Wide open, spooky levels of realism and enough depth and 'in the room' snap to take your head off.
Had mine just over 3 years I think, love it.
Depends of course what you hook it up to of course,
tried different power amps with it, all changed the sound.
Hope you find what your looking for,
These things sometimes can come from not where your looking.
I'd keep an open mind on what the guys are saying about EQ.
walpurgis
30-09-2021, 07:46
Maybe, to get an idea of what can be achieved, invest in a cheap multiband graphic to start with, they are easy to sell on again at little or no loss. Most of the big Japanese brands made decent ones. If the results suit you, you could move on to a more upmarket item later if you felt it was worthwhile.
Schiit do a couple of equalizers that are well reviewed and don't break the bank. For example: https://www.schiit.com/products/lokius
AJSki2fly
30-09-2021, 13:12
I've always liked a system with sizzle and snap, as a drummer , need snares and cymbals to sound realistic , tight tuneful bass etc.
Recently I've suffered a car crash that has lead to loss in the upper mids hearing wise.
My current 2 x Pres no longer seem to be sounding right.
The Bryston BP17 cubed has always been fast, but lacks the depth and soundstage i need, and the MBL 5011 has the depth , imaging and soundstage , but is a bit rolled off on the top.
I would prefer balanced outputs too, but not essential.
Don't want thin and lean, save that for my women :-)
So any thoughts?
I'm a Solid State man, but happy to try a valve pre that offers all I'm looking for.
Suggestions so far have been ARC Ref 3 or 5 , LS 27.
TRON
Ayre
PS BHK
Michi P5
Pass labs.
Getting hold of decent , not daftly expensive examples to try is difficult.
Budget is around £5k.
Just read through this thread and agree with most said by others.
A new pre-amp is not going to do much if you have hearing loss of particular frequencies. I am quite familiar with this type of problem as my mother gradually lost her hearing in both ears over a period of 40 years due to Meniérs disease, for her she lost different frequency band at different times in each ear. The end result was she lost most hearing in the upper registers, 1000hz and above, 500-1000hz was about 40-60% and below was less impacted. This meant she could here men with deep voices reasonably well but women less so. As time progressed she was prescribed digital hearing aids, initially these were not than configurable but later on in her life they tuned them for each ear to boost the frequencies she was deficient in. But there is a down side in this, if she was in a relative quiet room for example holding a one to one conversation it worked pretty well, but if she was say out in a restaurant with lots of ambient noise and especially if there was higher frequency sound, which was common, then the amplification of this became an unbearable roar in her ears and she would have to turn the hearing aids off.
I thought the above would maybe help you to consider the issue you may face. I would suggest a simple and not too expensive way to see what impact the equivalent of a multi-band graphic equaliser would have for you is to use some software through your computer streaming some music. Audirvana used to and I believe still has the capability to select and boost/ or lower selected frequency bands, Roon also has the same capability.
You would need at least a DAC connected to your amplifier that you can connect to your PC/Mac with a USB cable, or alternatively pick up a RaspberyPi with HAT card or DAC that you can connect to your amp and then stream to Volumio(software) running on the RPI from Audirvana or Roon. However you do it you can play around with different frequencies and see it will work for you, and then decide if you want to splash out on a good multi-channel frequency analyser or not.
I hope that might be of some help. By the way if others are listening with your frequency settings it may sound quite horrible for them.
You can get a used two-channel professional Klark Teknik DN360 30 band 1/3 octave equaliser:
https://www.klarkteknik.com/product.html?modelCode=P0AGV
for about £150.
Even better than the 360 is a klark teknik kt410. Very transparent, I use one after my graaf 13.5bii, which you might want to add to your pre amp list, if you csn find one.
Have you tried hearing aids? Boosting the top end or cutting the bottom is going to leave the sound off for everyone else
Or invest in a top quality set of headphones with an eq in the chain. 5K should cover it given totl cans are around 4K.
Thinking on about this hypex based power amps might give you the sound you are looking for, i found my nord ncores gave gun fire in movies real snap
Pure_Carbon
13-10-2021, 08:07
I've got hold of a Pass Labs XP30 , and am currently bonding with it.
Faster than the MBL , more like the Bryston in speed, but with bigger soundstage, and amazing definition , imaging and separation.
Currently head and shoulders above everything else I've had in the system !
This may work !
hifinutt
13-10-2021, 08:23
nice , thas a pre amp i would like to hear too
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