Shopping for a pre

ALL212

george daniel wrote: »

hey Brock-- what would you compare the Granite pre to--I know thats a difficult question,, I'm just thinking about dumping my EE minimax for something different.

Hey George!

I've not heard the EE but it looks similiar to the Granite in it's basic build. The Granite would be larger - squarer. You'd gain an extra set of inputs and an EL84 based headphone amp. You could also play with rolling some rectifiers in the 5Y3 family and derivitives through it. The Granite has only one 12AU7 so tube rolling is cheaper - and you can use the E80CC's in it because there isn't a cover. The Granite also has a remote - that you can kill with if needed! :eek:

Within days of putting in the Candela I also upgraded my cables to Groneberg - I know that made a big difference in my sound here also. Candela is obviously a step up from the Grainite. I just bought an older Tempest off of Audiogon - nice...maybe even better sounding than the Candela. :rolleyes:

Anyway - if you have questions on the Granite just let me know - it's still for sale.

hearingimpared

I've heard a complete rig comprised of Granite Audio gear at the B & M shop I frequent and it really sounded great plus the price is right.

http://www.questforsound.com/preamps/preamps_granite770fp.htm

ALL212

It's too early - not enough coffee but...I replaced a Dodd ELP (that I bought from DKG99 and sold to Blakeh) with the Granite and was quite happy. Clearer - better sound stage...IMHO - or I would have kept the Dodd. That's about as good as a sound comparison with what might be considered common ground here as I can get.

The Granite that I have is not Don's top of the line - it's from the Aspen line - which is his entry level stuff. The link in the post above is for his most excellent preamp!

Don does answer his emails so if you have direct questions on the Aspen 825 - just ring him up!

hearingimpared

ALL212 wrote: »

It's too early - not enough coffee but...I replaced a Dodd ELP (that I bought from DKG99 and sold to Blakeh) with the Granite and was quite happy. Clearer - better sound stage...IMHO - or I would have kept the Dodd. That's about as good as a sound comparison with what might be considered common ground here as I can get.

The Granite that I have is not Don's top of the line - it's from the Aspen line - which is his entry level stuff. The link in the post above is for his most excellent preamp!

Don does answer his emails so if you have direct questions on the Aspen 825 - just ring him up!

That was just a snippet as he carrys the full line of Granit Audio gear.

ALL212

hearingimpared wrote: »

That was just a snippet as he carrys the full line of Granit Audio gear.

You've heard that 770? Supposed to be quite the preamp. But the price takes it above what I can do. I think there was one on Audiogon for ...$1500 or so?

hearingimpared

ALL212 wrote: »

You've heard that 770? Supposed to be quite the preamp. But the price takes it above what I can do. I think there was one on Audiogon for ...$1500 or so?

Yes, when Stephen (owener of Quest for Sound) has his quarterly shows he goes all out with all kinds of awesome gear. He has like five show rooms that he really loads up with severl rigs as well as setting them up to enable a variety of fronts ends to listen to on each rig. He really does a great job.

EDIT; just to be clear I don't recall if he had that particular (770) pre in the set-up. When I'm at those shows I come out with a full head and after a while can't remember which of what was seen in which room unless I'm taking notes.

heiney9

I miss those types of places. We have nothing here in this area like that anymore.

H9

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote: »

I miss those types of places. We have nothing here in this area like that anymore.

H9

We have a few in this area. The one I keep talking about is just wonderful and he's been in business forever!

Actually Quest is in Bensalem which is at least a two hour ride from me. There are a couple that are within 20 minutes of me such as Overture, and HiFi House, but I just can't seem to get a relationship going with them so I use Quest. He also utilizes a website to the fullest where the other two don't. There are a few in the city limits of Philly but I've not been to them. It's too bad that the like of Bryn Mawr Stereo have gone the way of the doo doo as they were great places where you can hangout for hours.

george daniel

ALL212 wrote: »

Hey George!

I've not heard the EE but it looks similiar to the Granite in it's basic build. The Granite would be larger - squarer. You'd gain an extra set of inputs and an EL84 based headphone amp. You could also play with rolling some rectifiers in the 5Y3 family and derivitives through it. The Granite has only one 12AU7 so tube rolling is cheaper - and you can use the E80CC's in it because there isn't a cover. The Granite also has a remote - that you can kill with if needed! :eek:

Within days of putting in the Candela I also upgraded my cables to Groneberg - I know that made a big difference in my sound here also. Candela is obviously a step up from the Grainite. I just bought an older Tempest off of Audiogon - nice...maybe even better sounding than the Candela. :rolleyes:

Anyway - if you have questions on the Granite just let me know - it's still for sale.

Thanks-- I have a Minimax-- Tom Tutay modded,, ie,, caps and db decreased to 12Db,, I'm just trying to determine if this would be a lateral move-- what I am most interested in is the remote and soundstage--lemme' pm the folks at Granite--thank you dor your response--I'll be in touch.

heiney9

I worked at the only high end dealer here in town, but that was about 15-20 years ago and they closed up shop about 8 years ago. Those were good times for sure. Back then I didn;t have the income to enjoy such stuff.............now I sort of do, but nowhere to demo or buy stuff unless I go into the suburbs of Chicago, etc.