2. amps-preamps
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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
 
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
lpretiring
195 posts
 
Hi Cal, 
It's a great moment in time when a new piece of gear shows up!

I agree with Mac "give the Truth a few days to fully open up". I would say 4 days will get you there, and if you can refrain avoid listening for 48 hours. After that the slight hardness, and SS character will begin to melt away.

Best of luck,
     LP
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
388 posts
 
@charles1dad  No pre-amp right now... just going direct from my PS Audio PW Dac.  Really looking forward to not throwing away resolution at under 50% volume (which is all low-volume listening). 

And thanks for the break-in suggestions... I'll put it up on a little desktop system tonight and at least let it play for 24 hours before getting it in the main system.

cal3713's avatar
cal3713
388 posts
 
@charles1dad Also, not sure why my experience was so different from others with the Lyngdorf, but I didn't feel that I lost much switching from it to the PS Audio PWD (both used exclusively as source selection/volume control feeding my Franks).  The Lyngdorf had better bass, but also took away some soundstage and imaging precision.  Given the age of the PS Audio unit, I expected to lose a lot more than that.    

Honestly, once I took the Lyngdorf out of the system it just sat in the corner for two weeks waiting to be sold.  The only thing I genuinely missed during that time was the convenience of controlling the entire unit from any internet connected device.  Different systems, different ears I guess.  
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