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Thread: Preamp Bakeoff

  1. #1
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default Preamp Bakeoff

    After hearing stories of the prowess of a little known Chinese preamp from Alan, we decided to get together and put the preamps we have through a little bakeoff to see how the Chinese (RVC) job fared.

    Here is the ebay listing. I have not taken a picture of Alan's so this will have to do. The new RVC has had a SS buffer added to give it an active output too.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volume-Re...QAAOSw6CJbCmL8

    The first preamp in the system was the KIN to get a measure of where we were starting from. We used the Half Speed remaster of "Queen - Greatest Hits"

    We gave the RVC a thorough working over. In passive mode i wasn't impressed, it was a little flabby in the bass and just didn't have any urgency. Guitar riffs were a bit lazy and lacked a little of the crunch i look for when Brian May plays certain riffs. The soundstage was ok width wise and the HF were very smooth as was the whole frequency range. The resolution however, was better.

    In the new active mode, I must say i felt it was cleaner and more defined. More so than the KIN but the soundstage seemed a little more central. There was also a little less depth, but on the whole i will say that there is a massive amount of quality here for £100 (£150 modded i think). Riffs and drums had urgency and the vocals from Mercury were clean and expressive. I did also feel that whilst it was excellent, i did get a bit of fatigue from the HF, which in truth got a bit hard at times. cymbals felt a bit glaring at times too, which is certainly not something i had heard in Alans system before. I suspect this is due to the Opamps providing the gain in the active section. I am pretty sure a DCB1 buffer board or something which offered unity gain would remove this issue. The sound became far more driven and the urgency was impressive.

    In all truth, in standard form, i would suggest there is very little or anything for £100 that would better it. With a few choice mods and an active stage fitted, it became a genuine contender for most preamps. Seriously good but the biggest issue is the HF hardness which caused some fatigue but that could be down to the opamps and i would really like to hear it with a good buffer board of some type.

    We decided to put my DCB1 with Khozmo SA in and see what happened next.

    We switched to a track from a Bluenote album.

    Instantly, the difference was clear. The Saxophonist jumped from the speakers and was in the room with us. I am not kidding either. Alan's face was a picture!!

    The DCB1 was flawless to my ears, there is a very organic way to which things are allowed to pass through it. The Saxophonist runs out of breath and you are willing him to breathe. The difference between the KIN and the RVC was in the ultimate transparency and the way in which it has little impact on the sound. It has depth, width, scale, bass slams and you get EXACTLY out of the pre as to what goes in IMO. We went back and used the same track on the RVC and the saxophonist got back into the speaker and it lost some depth, the soundstage became flatter. It lost the lucidity and 3D quality the DCB1 allowed to be displayed.

    We put the KIN back in with the same track and it got a bit more organic but the sound wasn't as clean as with the RVC or the DCB1.

    Out of the 3, IMO the DCB1 with Khozmo was way ahead.

    We got the DCB1 on the scope and it makes no difference what volume it plays at, there is NO distortion at all.

    In my humble opinion, the DCB1 with Khozmo is a preamp that belongs in the upper echelon of preamps. I have no idea how to beat it other than having no preamp at all.

    There is a DCB1 on Pink fish media for sale for £350, it doesn't have a Khozmo but it does have a nice looking Stepped Attenuator. If i needed a preamp i would snap it up.

    Is the RVC a giant killer? Well, it is certainly very impressive and for the price its remarkable. I liken it to the presentation of the Slagle AVC i had. I'd be hard pressed to pick a winner between the two. It is definitely something that should be heard if you need a preamp on a budget. What could be better? Not much that i can think of.

    Thanks to Alan for a really enjoyable morning as usual!

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default

    Yes it was an excellent morning. Another very good session to drill down into the important traits that give world class sound.

    Oli's assessments above are spot on. We are listening in the upper echelons of performance so differences are small and need correspondingly good support equipment. The 57's having virtually no colouration are a brilliant window into the soundstage. The dual mono Firebottle power amp just seems to pass what ever you throw at it, fortunately.

    The Khozmo attenuator/DCB1 Pass buffer board preamp that Oli has built is the most transparent preamp I have heard. As stated the saxophonist was in the room, this is the benchmark that all preamps should aspire to.

    The Chinese RVC is a stone cold bargain for what it offers, but I am on the quest to lift the performance with some judicious mods to cable and some of the resistors. The quality of the following buffer stage is also under scrutiny, so more developments await.

  3. #3
    Join Date: May 2017

    Location: West Sussex, UK

    Posts: 775
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Hi Alan, Oliver,

    I guess I'm in for a real treat when i pick up my mono's from Alan and get the DCB1 turbo finished.

    Id Like to thank both of you, Alan for building me my new mono's and finishing my dcb1 build and Oliver for starting me down the road to ruin, will i ever be satisfied???
    I guess ill have to wait and see.

    Steve...
    Turntable; Rega p8
    Cartridge; Alpheta mc
    Phono Stage; Rega Aria, Bigbottle 3 mm/mc
    Amplifier; Rega Elicit
    Speakers; Rega Rx3

  4. #4
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Firebottle View Post
    Yes it was an excellent morning. Another very good session to drill down into the important traits that give world class sound.

    Oli's assessments above are spot on. We are listening in the upper echelons of performance so differences are small and need correspondingly good support equipment. The 57's having virtually no colouration are a brilliant window into the soundstage. The dual mono Firebottle power amp just seems to pass what ever you throw at it, fortunately.

    The Khozmo attenuator/DCB1 Pass buffer board preamp that Oli has built is the most transparent preamp I have heard. As stated the saxophonist was in the room, this is the benchmark that all preamps should aspire to.

    The Chinese RVC is a stone cold bargain for what it offers, but I am on the quest to lift the performance with some judicious mods to cable and some of the resistors. The quality of the following buffer stage is also under scrutiny, so more developments await.
    Yes, I'd forgotten to mention the Firebottle DMPA. It was superb again and as you said, conveyed all it was given. I really like the way they deliver music.

    Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by STD305M View Post
    Hi Alan, Oliver,

    I guess I'm in for a real treat when i pick up my mono's from Alan and get the DCB1 turbo finished.

    Id Like to thank both of you, Alan for building me my new mono's and finishing my dcb1 build and Oliver for starting me down the road to ruin, will i ever be satisfied???
    I guess ill have to wait and see.

    Steve...
    You're going to have to let the Khozmo bed in but once everything has.......wow.

    It's just a superb preamp and wants for nothing.

    Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by STD305M View Post
    Hi Alan, Oliver,

    I guess I'm in for a real treat when i pick up my mono's from Alan and get the DCB1 turbo finished.

    Id Like to thank both of you, Alan for building me my new mono's and finishing my dcb1 build and Oliver for starting me down the road to ruin, will i ever be satisfied???
    I guess ill have to wait and see.

    Steve...
    I'm part way down the "Olibottle"TM path myself with the otp and monos . You could do a lot worse ! I am really enjoying them and they are gents to deal with also.. You'll love the monos.

  7. #7
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smangus View Post
    I'm part way down the "Olibottle"TM path myself with the otp and monos . You could do a lot worse ! I am really enjoying them and they are gents to deal with also.. You'll love the monos.
    "Olibottle"

    I'm glad you're enjoying them mate. They are very very good. Go get yourself that DCB1 off PFM and see how good they really are.



    Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jan 2014

    Location: london se6

    Posts: 823
    I'm AndyElectroNumpty.

    Default

    cheers need my pennies for my highland whisky trip next week

    Not going to start mucking about with preamps just yet. upgrade path will be otp2 then tonearm 1st! The Linn Classik is working just fine as a pre at the moment.

  9. #9
    Bigman80 Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smangus View Post
    cheers need my pennies for my highland whisky trip next week

    Not going to start mucking about with preamps just yet. upgrade path will be otp2 then tonearm 1st! The Linn Classik is working just fine as a pre at the moment.
    Oh, I like a nice whiskey. Money well spent mate.

    Fair enough, the upgrade path can wait!!

    Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Join Date: May 2017

    Location: West Sussex, UK

    Posts: 775
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bigman80 View Post
    Oh, I like a nice whiskey. Money well spent mate.

    Fair enough, the upgrade path can wait!!

    Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk
    Id better bring up a bottle of 25 year old malt i opened but didn't like
    All yours mate
    Turntable; Rega p8
    Cartridge; Alpheta mc
    Phono Stage; Rega Aria, Bigbottle 3 mm/mc
    Amplifier; Rega Elicit
    Speakers; Rega Rx3

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