yes I have looked at Tube-o-Phile on A/C , what I am trying to find out is how does it compare to primaluna and Rogue audio pre- amps , since they are priced at a similar price level. I have listened to a Prima Luna amp at the Oakland Audio show 2017, which sounded very good .
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Ok having heard Don’s amp at a friends house considering all other options at his price point I have decided to order his Don Sach’s model 2 pre amp in a Walnut case with remote control and all the bells and whistles thank you all for your feed back and answers |
@jmac7,
I guess, like Kevin Deal of Prima Luna /Upsacale audio claims in his Utube video's the Primaluna Pre-amps weigh more than other Pre-amps, made by other manufacturer's well ! having heard Don Sachs amp the choice was between Weight & Sound quality so I choice sound quality He He He !
at the same price point not to say that prema Luna's are not good pre-amps, I have also heard good things about Rogue Audio RP-1 but have already ordered DS 2 in a Walnut case with upgraded caps , meanwhile I do have a VTA-SP-14(tubes4HIfi.com/SP14) on loan from @whitestix that I am listening to in my system
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@kalali, wont have my DS 2 before November 2017, however a new found friend Via Audio circle spent a couple of hours with me, he brought in his odyssey Candela pre-amp for me to try with my Maggie 1.7i and the Kismet amplifier , sounded wonderful ! (this gentleman owns Tekton Double Impact speakers) after about an hour plus listening we switched back to the VTA-SP 14 , we were surprised by the Soundstage, Clarity and it certainly was not a step backwards ! the DS 2 is supposed to sound about 30% to 40 % better , lets see what happens when I get my amplifier. but again DS 2 twice the price ! t |
@Kalali , @aberyclark around August 30 a member on audio circle advertised to sell a Don Sach model 2 , with Xlr input and 1 uf Jupiter capacitors after checking his bonafide with Don, I offered to purchase the unit. So instead of a long wait I got this fully loaded unit which is about a year old in pristine condition with walnut wood case and according to the previous owner had about 300 hours of play on the tubes. Since I have had the privilege of having VTA-SP14 in my home for two weeks and also having listened to the Candela Pre-amp. I can tell you the build quality of this pre-amp is head and shoulder above the VTA-Sp 14 the sound quality . No match ! at least 50/60 % better. I will be sending this unit back to Don for some upgrades he has suggested specially Audyn film power capacitors and a extra set of Audiocap theta caps by passed by Teflon in 3 uf value to drive my SS Odyssey Kismet .Complete rewiring of the board to the inputs with Dueland 20 awg wiring and 1 input with Neotech gold & silver wiring. Unbelievable as it may sound it will still cost me less than what I would have a paid Don for a new pre-amp plus a 10 week wait !
I have not heard the Rogue RP -1 although I have listened to a prima luna pre amp at an audio show I have put down my initial listening experience on the Audio Circle forum. @aberyclark I'd be happy for you to come in listen to this pre and compare the Rogue Rp-1 if you want to come down to 95376 Zip code I live in Central California myself
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@soix @kalali Yes between the three pre-amps I have heard in my home environment, I like Don Sach's 2 as the best of the 3 , again this is very subjective based on my listening tests and "ears"
Build Quality: better parts, point to point wiring , to me DS 2 is very revealing, no brightness, realism in voices, vocals are good , bass is just about right ! do not hear any tube sloppiness sometimes you get with lower class pre amps, very quite. However the unit is not cheap but considering the fact it competes with higher priced units and is custom built it is perhaps fairly priced at its price point . Hope that helps.
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Don himself using Schiit Gungnir upgraded to multibit, I have a delta sigma Gungnir DAC but use that with my Audeze headphone setup (audeze deckard and LCD 2), do not use DAC with the main system
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@porscheracer
Congrats ! you will like it , the pre-amp continues to delight me ! very happy with it , will be sending it back to Don for Certain upgrades , but even without those upgrades it sounds wonderful with my SS Amplifier
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@porscheracer. Best you talk to Don about it , in my case since I had purchased it from a AudioCircle member the unit was a year old although it had all the Bells & whistles. Don recommended, that he could upgrade the power supply caps to better ones that he uses now and extra output 3.3 uf Capacitors for my Odyssey SS (to get better bass) amplifier and change some of the board and input wiring to Dueland & Neotech to bring the unit up to date with his latest thinking , for me it was cost effective to do that , So I decided to go for it , in your case you probably will have his current Standard for the unit.
I can tell you one thing you wont regret it , I just love the unit !
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The unit I purchased is in a Walnut case , has both the XLR & the Tape Monitor,and 4 RCA Yes that is what Don has recommended AudioCap thetas bypassed by Russian Teflon caps, but Jupiters stay in, I just get an extra 3.3 uf caps. for my 2nd output ! and new wiring on board & some inputs.
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Yes Bendix 5852 is just fine ! DS 2 has 6 volt rails, I picked up 2 pairs from Ebay , very inexpensive the seller claims that they are tested on Hickok 6000 tester although one of them turned out to be micro-phonic the rest are good this rectifier "does improve the sound of Pre-amp." which is noticeable.
You should get a quad of CV 181-z , but if you already have 20 matched pairs of WWII era 6SN7 you should try them out
could you list the 6SN7 that you have ? thanks !
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Problem with XLR on DS 2 is that the whole chain needs to be balanced, although I am using it with Zu mission XLR cables and Gungnir DAC, the rest of the chain is single ended,
So I find the SQ of XLR for my ears to be comparable to RCA's.
XLR maybe good for long runs or if you have ground loop or hum but for short runs it is insignificant !
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@porscheracer, , I just purchased a new PS audio Directstream DAC I do own a Schiit Gungnir ( which I use with my LCD-X and Audeze Deckard Amplifier, But PS Audio Directstream just blew me away with the DS-2 , when I purchased it I thought i'd use for 30 days and send it back than may be try to get a Lampizator DAC, but the sound quality to my ears is so pleasing with this DAC that I changed my mind and decided to keep it . the DAC also can be used as pre-amp directly into the power power amp. The sound quality is pretty close, with DS stream having slightly bigger soundstage |
@whitestix,.. Congratulations I already have the Dueland wiring and Jupiter caps , Don upgraded my pre-amp last year so I will wait to get his new uprades ! this is one Unit that will stay in my system others may come and go , I am looking forward to listening to your KT-88 Kooteney , as I have been considering get one for a long time !
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