Personal Preamp Evolution


I found the the threads on the amplifier evolution very intriguing,the speaker evolution thread as well .I am not sure if there is already a thread regarding preamps.Many of us failed to mention their preamps[myself included] in the amplifier thread.After all, it really is an amplifier per say.
1967...Dyna pas 2 from a kit
1974...Dayton wright spa
1975...Mark Levinson JC-2
1976...Audio Research SP-3
1977... Van Alistine mods on Sp-3a,removed tone controls etc
1981...Audio Research Sp-6a
1982... revised to sp-6b
1983...traded back to the Audio Research sp-3a and modded further
1976..Audio Research Sp-10,revised to 10b[still in use]
1990...MFA Luminescence B[still my reference]
1996...ARC sp-8 mk2,Cat SL1 signature MK2
2000...DIY line stage,tube rectified,6sn-7gt's for gain.
2002 to present...Supratek Syrah,

ecclectique

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1980 Audible Illusions mini-mite
1982 Audible Illusions (new model of what was really the mini-mite)
1983 Yamaha C2
1984 PS Audio (concurrent with C2 and tubed pres)
1985 Superphon (ditto)
1989 Forte (Great harmonics, detail filter)
1992 Van Alstine Pas 4
1999 Onkyo P-304 (ridiculously good for the money, got it new for $129...MSR was $600)
2000 Threshold NS-10 ($30 at pawn shop, blown power caps. $10.59 to fix. Great pre,especially when put on the lab power-supply.)
2003 Bryston BP25, 1.5 phono (ultra-quiet and better musicality than all the tubes I put it against YMMV. Not the last word in high-freq dynamics.)
2003 Spectral DMC30S (Oh yeah, baby! Dynamics,extention, mids...pretty much everything.)
2003 Using the built-in preamp on the 390S (Awesome with right cables...and nothing else to switch. Will take in other digital sources though.)