deHavilland Ultraverve 3 Pre Amp
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kevhed72
Posts: 4,963
Special thanks to Danny for an ultra smooth transaction in this beautiful pre
So why did I switch from the Joule LA100 to this pre....well you could say this is a case of the audio enthusiast's slippery slope. About 4 months ago I purchased a Plinius 8200p amp which, looking back, was a bit of a sleeper for the purchase price and would have paired nicely with the Ultraverve and save my back some considerable pair. Regardless, I was on the hunt for more power and a minty Rotel RMB1590 was available locally at a price I could not resist. So the made the journey home with the 80lb block of power and gave it a couple weeks with the Joule. My immediate thought with this pairing was 'meh...I should have kept the 'Plinius'. My 2nd thought was 'maybe this pre is a bad match...and I want a pre with a remote anyways' (class rationalization to upgrade gear). Danny had mentioned not long ago that he would have a tubed pre for sale and next thing I know I am scouring the deHavilland website for more information and here we are...and I will cut to the chase with some observations:
1. Vocals are improved and clearer, and female vocals on some recordings are heavenly.
2. Bass is overall better and much tighter. More punch for sure through the pair of REL T7s.
3. While by no means do I considered myself a tube expert, I have been a fan of tubed pre's with SS amp for some time. The wide, tubey experience is off the charts now, especially with ambient types of music, including lower res internet radio sources which I normally turn in first thing in the morning.
4. Although a first world problem, swapping tubes including the single 6sn7 up front will be much easier.
5. This last one is subjective, but the aesthetic of the deHavilland gear is outstanding.
6. This pre was some balance trim adjustments as the Joule does, which is a bonus in my room with a doorway adjacent to my right L200. There is a warning about messing with this with SS amps powered up, so eventually I will tinker with it after powering down.
7. The 32 step volume attenuator is way too loud on "1" with my setup for my liking, so I am controlling volume through the streamer now. There doesn't seem to be any drop-off in SQ using this as volume control, but I haven't done any A/B testing yet.
Hope that wasn't too much, but right now I am extremely pleased...especially since I think this pre may have the original stock tube compliment of:
signal triodes 1 X 6SN7 (GT, GTA, GTB, WGT)
cathode follower 2 X 6AH4 Single Triode
rectifier tube 5AW4 or 5U4
*The manual recommends Tung Sol and Sylvia tubes, which came with the unit, but there are no other identifying marks on the tubes.
So why did I switch from the Joule LA100 to this pre....well you could say this is a case of the audio enthusiast's slippery slope. About 4 months ago I purchased a Plinius 8200p amp which, looking back, was a bit of a sleeper for the purchase price and would have paired nicely with the Ultraverve and save my back some considerable pair. Regardless, I was on the hunt for more power and a minty Rotel RMB1590 was available locally at a price I could not resist. So the made the journey home with the 80lb block of power and gave it a couple weeks with the Joule. My immediate thought with this pairing was 'meh...I should have kept the 'Plinius'. My 2nd thought was 'maybe this pre is a bad match...and I want a pre with a remote anyways' (class rationalization to upgrade gear). Danny had mentioned not long ago that he would have a tubed pre for sale and next thing I know I am scouring the deHavilland website for more information and here we are...and I will cut to the chase with some observations:
1. Vocals are improved and clearer, and female vocals on some recordings are heavenly.
2. Bass is overall better and much tighter. More punch for sure through the pair of REL T7s.
3. While by no means do I considered myself a tube expert, I have been a fan of tubed pre's with SS amp for some time. The wide, tubey experience is off the charts now, especially with ambient types of music, including lower res internet radio sources which I normally turn in first thing in the morning.
4. Although a first world problem, swapping tubes including the single 6sn7 up front will be much easier.
5. This last one is subjective, but the aesthetic of the deHavilland gear is outstanding.
6. This pre was some balance trim adjustments as the Joule does, which is a bonus in my room with a doorway adjacent to my right L200. There is a warning about messing with this with SS amps powered up, so eventually I will tinker with it after powering down.
7. The 32 step volume attenuator is way too loud on "1" with my setup for my liking, so I am controlling volume through the streamer now. There doesn't seem to be any drop-off in SQ using this as volume control, but I haven't done any A/B testing yet.
Hope that wasn't too much, but right now I am extremely pleased...especially since I think this pre may have the original stock tube compliment of:
signal triodes 1 X 6SN7 (GT, GTA, GTB, WGT)
cathode follower 2 X 6AH4 Single Triode
rectifier tube 5AW4 or 5U4
*The manual recommends Tung Sol and Sylvia tubes, which came with the unit, but there are no other identifying marks on the tubes.
Comments
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Congrats on the new preamp! Did you sell the Joule? One reason that I sold the Joule was the lack of a remote. It sure is nice to have that in my new integrated amp.
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Not yet but want to throw it back in the mix for a final listen. Ill be putting it back up here for sale soon though with some additional tubes besides the ones you were kind enough to send with it.Congrats on the new preamp! Did you sell the Joule? One reason that I sold the Joule was the lack of a remote. It sure is nice to have that in my new integrated amp.
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It sure is a good looking pre!
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@kevhed72 try using the balance adjustments to lower the gain if not take a look at these.
http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.htmlAmplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Puritan PSM156 -
@kevhed72 try using the balance adjustments to lower the gain if not take a look at these.
http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.html
What he said, give that a whirl and see what it does for you. So glad you’re digging that pre…it’s a super nice piece for sure.
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Thought about putting mine up for sale, but since she is no longer making them, thought I'd hold on to it.Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Puritan PSM156 -
Couple things...the Rotel's RCA input impedance is only 12Kohms, while the Plinius' is 47Kohms. I would assume this is a mismatch for the Joule, given that you liked it with the Plinius but not the Rotel. If you still had the Plinius, it would be informative to see if the differences you noted above held true between the 2 preamps.
Also, the Rotel's gain on the unbalanced side 27.5 db, but only 23.5 db on the balanced input. Might try RCA-XLR interconnects to drop 4 db of gain.Sonus Faber Liuto / Coda Continuum / Anthem STR Preamplifier / Oppo BDP-105D / Technics SP-15 w/SAEC WE-308SX & Ortofon AS-309 arms / Ikeda 9C2 & Dynavector XX2 Mk II carts -
Kev ,
What streamer are you using ?
BkDayens Ampino , Yamaha wxc-50 , Polk SDA 1c’s ( my first love .. ) , Kimber Kable 4TC, Sony 42” - BEDROOM
B&K EX-442 ( it will go in my casket when I die ... ) , PS Audio 4.6 preamp ( old school , but it still jams on ... ) , Eversolo DMP-A6 , Boston Acoustic voyager 7’s - POOL
Parasound A21, Eversolo DMP-A8 , Yamaha wxc-50 , Kimber Kable 4vs , Salk Supercharged Song towers ( difficult choice between these and my family if I had to choose ... 😩 ) , Sony XBR-A8F 65” OLED - DEN , MAIN RIG
PS Audio S300 - sitting in the closet for now …
Onkyo TX-nr609 , Polk atrium 7 , Boston acoustic sound ware (4) , Boston acoustic sub , B&W center , Sharp 65” TV - PATIO -
The biggest wild card with tube gear are the tubes. It's extremely hard to compare 2 pre-amps that utilize different tubes. Either tube type and/or Old stock vs. new tubes. It can be apples and oranges.
That's just a general statement because obviously when you switched pre's and amps you found a combination you liked and didn't like. Both pieces are excellent pieces of gear. Just goes to show once again synergy is the key to a great sounding system. Or for finding one that pleases and checks all your boxes.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
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@kevhed72 did you ever get your gain problem fixed?Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Puritan PSM156
