Anyone like their Preamp?

thor098

Any suggestions for a good 2 channel preamp to go with an adcom 545 amp that I just picked up?

thsmith

I am happy with my Wright WLA12A and Anthem Pre 2L and have been happy with Adcom GFP-750 and Anthem Pre 1L.

Whats your budget and preference tube vs ss?

ben62670

I am using a Grounded Grid Pre I built with the 545. Love it. What is your budget? What speakers are you driving?
Welcome to club Polk

thor098

The speakers are SDA-2's. I currently am using my Marantz 2270 as the preamp.

dkg999

Lots of pre amps are going to sound good with the 545. Can you tell us more about what you want to spend, do you need HT bypass, what speakers, etc?

thor098

The budget? Maybe up to $600. I really don't understand what makes a good preamp yet and what I'd be paying for. Its a new area for me.

thsmith

At $600 there are several great choices, with and without HT bypass or remote. Pretty wide open in that range.

Tube or SS ?

If you look hard the GFP-750 can be found if SS is your thing. If tube is what you want the Anthems I mentioned, the Wright if you can find one and host of other tube pre's.

But you do need to figure out what features and sound you are looking for. Is balance control required, remote, HT bypass, IEC for power, input types (RCA and or XLR), color, on and on.

thor098

Well, I'm off to bed. Thanks for the info so far and I look forward to more. What kind of specs do I even look for?

thor098

I'm strictly looking for SS.

thsmith

I think the Adcom 750 will get a lot of votes then. Nice thing is you want have to buy tubes to roll and go broke;)

concealer404

I like my B&K.

cstmar01

I like both the SEP-1 and the Parasound 2100. Concealer404's B&K is very nice as well.

reeltrouble1

I like my preamp, sometimes I sleep with it................sometimes I have to move afterwards to avoid the preamp police, those guys are pretty quick.

RT1

hearingimpared

All solid state huh! Look for a used Spectral DMC 10x. They are hard to come by used and will cost you a bit more than $600 but it will blow you away. However, it has only three inputs, phono, aux (for digital) and a tape loop which you can use for any line level device. BTW that phono stage is still one of the best ever made.

heiney9

Adcom GFP-750 is an excellent piece. HT bypass, Nelson Pass design, built like a brick **** house. Passive mode, remote, switching relays rather than I/C's, simple signal paths, dead neutral, balanced in's and out's, 12V trigger.............did I mention a Nelson Pass design

H9

Fongolio

I have an inappropriate relationship with my Carver C-1. It's geriatric but I love it none the less.

steveinaz

Love mine, but it's a touch beyond $600. How about a new Creek passive for $499? See audioadvisor, REMOTE too!

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CKOBH22

heiney9

Since the OP is a little "green" with audio gear and separates I'd caution him against his 1st pre-amp being a passive unit. Passive units need to be carefully matched and not all people appreciate a passive pre-amp's sound.

H9

steveinaz

He's driving a CD player---plenty of output. His amp and CDP both lean to the warm side of neutral, the Creek (IMO) would be a good "balancing" move. Just my 2 cents.

heiney9

I still think he should approach with caution as many people prefer an active pre over a passive pre. If he can afford to experiment with both at the same time that would be best. This being his 1st forray into separates, a passive pre would be low on the list.

IMHO.

H9

Timothy Smith

I went through a lot of different preamps (Adcom, NAD, Dynaco, HK Citation, Advent, Marantz etc.) and eventually ended up with a Forte Model 45.

I belive that Forte was John Curl's entry level brand to go with Threshold.

I love this thing, it matches well with any SS or tube amp I pair it with.

I previously thought that preamps all sounded about the same and that it was not a critical component. It made a big difference in improved detail and still manages to sound effortless and "musical". It also has pretty good gain (some of my previous preamps had feeble outputs) so it works well with lower power amps and inefficient speakers

It also has a remote control which is nice for the lazy man.

New it was something like $1300, but can be bought used for about $300 (what I paid) if you are patient.

I hope it never breaks because I don't even want to think about replacing it.

heiney9

Timothy Smith wrote: »

I went through a lot of different preamps (Adcom, NAD, Dynaco, HK Citation, Advent, Marantz etc.) and eventually ended up with a Forte Model 45.

I belive that Forte was John Curl's entry level brand to go with Threshold.

I love this thing, it matches well with any SS or tube amp I pair it with.

I previously thought that preamps all sounded about the same and that it was not a critical component. It made a big difference in improved detail and still manages to sound effortless and "musical". It also has pretty good gain (some of my previous preamps had feeble outputs) so it works well with lower power amps and inefficient speakers

It also has a remote control which is nice for the lazy man.

New it was something like $1300, but can be bought used for about $300 (what I paid) if you are patient.

I hope it never breaks because I don't even want to think about replacing it.

It was Nelson Pass not John Curl. And Forte is very solid gear and the less costlier alternative to Threshold. I was looking at a Forte amp before buying my Aleph 30.

H9

reeltrouble1

heiney9 wrote: »

Adcom GFP-750 is an excellent piece. HT bypass, Nelson Pass design, built like a brick **** house. Passive mode, remote, switching relays rather than I/C's, simple signal paths, dead neutral, balanced in's and out's, 12V trigger.............did I mention a Nelson Pass design

H9

waaaaaaaaaaaaa gee I never would of guessed!!!!!

RT1

Willow

I like my pre-amp, it's not fancy but it does the trick. Mind you this is my first actual pre. And I have nothign else to compare it to.

steveinaz

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

waaaaaaaaaaaaa gee I never would of guessed!!!!!

RT1

hehe...:D

heiney9

;):)

Timothy Smith

heiney9 wrote: »

It was Nelson Pass not John Curl. And Forte is very solid gear and the less costlier alternative to Threshold. I was looking at a Forte amp before buying my Aleph 30.

H9

Heiney9: Thanks for the correction. Sometimes I get those two guys mixed up. At least I didn't say Dr. Omar Bose or Professor Sparkomatic.

reeltrouble1

H9 is actually the wayward lovechild born of a menage-a-trois involving Pass, Twiggy, Tiny Tim and several bottles of Ripple.

RT1

heiney9

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

H9 is actually the wayward lovechild born of a menage-a-trois involving Pass, Twiggy, Tiny Tim and several bottles of Ripple.

RT1

I thought that was our little secret

zingo

I've used the Luminous Audio Axiom passive preamp with multiple rigs and it sounded great every time; even at our Seattle Fest. Plus it's real cheap and customized to your amp and speakers.

lanchile

I wish I could suggest one, but I do not know any.
I build my diy integrated amp using just a potentiometer in the input signal. There are many integrated amps using this topology getting excellent results.
just to mention one is the Portal Panache integrated amp.