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Hornshoppe "the Truth" preamp - any opinions?

"The Truth" changes the paradigm in Reference Line Stages, literally. Its existence has even forced me to remove a "Direct Connection" in "Class A", because such a choice no longer makes any rational sense to me. In the end, "The Truth" is effectively a "direct connection" with no sonic downsides, and with the ability to drive any amplifier load and/or length of cable, while allowing any source to be heard at its very best. With the exception of extra gain, an audiophile can't ask for more than that. I realize that this may all sound "too good to be true", but it isn't. 

-- Arthur Salvatore  http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Linestages.html

This is high praise indeed, he likes it better than Coincident's Line Stage which is saying something, was wondering if someone else has heard it and compared it to other active line stages (am a big believer in active, though currently using AMR DP-777 DAC as my pre)
essrand
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
"There are countless good choices to suit our listening needs" Well said Tom and I agree. IMO there are numerous excellent quality audio components available to satisfy a broad spectrum of taste. The problem is you will never hear them all.

The Truth is active, buffered (exceptionally simple transitor output devices) requires a power cord, has a power supply but is 0 gain. It uses light to control volume, an extraordinarily simple circuit component. This is I’m certain why it is said to sound so good. I believe that for some audiophiles its low (relatively speaking) price works against it rather than viewing it as an asset. I don’t doubt its excellence and look forward to hearing Tom’s Truth Line stage.
Charles
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
"...I loved my Aric tube linestage, so I completely understand where kalali is coming from..."

Coincidentally I also have an Aric Audio preamp. I think your assertion of having the Truth paired with a 300B SET amp makes sense as the combination would be more neutral in contrast with having an all tube audio chain.
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
388 posts
 
Just got mine and can't wait to finally set it up and listen this weekend.  And glad to see that more 300b folks are using it (perhaps not surprising given some of the people extolling its virtues)...
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Hi cal, 
Congratulations ! What line stage are you currently using? I'm interested in your listening impressions particularly given your recent experience with the Lyngdorf unit as a point of reference/contrast. 
Charles 
mac48025's avatar
mac48025
613 posts
 
Congrats cal, give the Truth a few days to fully open up. It's very good right out of the box but definitely gets better. Looking forward to your impressions.
Tom
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