I recently picked up a 'pre loved' Audio Experience A2 SE and think it is a remarkable product for very little cash. My previous tubed preamp was single ended only so for a small outlay I thought I'd insert the A2 SE in my system and make use of the balanced inputs/outputs on my Chord DAC64 & Gamut D200 for the first time since I'd owned them. My reasoning was that if it sounded worse I'd sell it on and maintain the status quo but if it performed similarly to my existing (and more expensive!) pre, then I'd keep it, sell the incumbent and pocket the difference thank you very much.
I don't know how much of the leap in performance is down to now running my other components from their XLRs rather than RCA connections and how much is attributable to synergy and the Audio Experience A2 SE itself but MY system has never sounded so good. The soundstage has broadened and deepened, detailing is all as it should be and I'm finding that it responds to some tube rolling should you wish to go down that route. Usefully for your monoblocks it also has two ouputs.
Build quality is good but you won't mistake it for a Krell etc. and though it may be the cheapest component in my system, it is certainly not outclassed sonically. I have owned preamps that cost 3 and 4 times what this sells for and none of them gave me this much pleasure.
In a nutshell then I'm really enjoying mine and think its an absolute steal even at the full retail price...I'm certainly keeping mine for the foreseeable.
I should qualify the above by saying that the guy I bought it off thought it sounded better when using the balanced connections, as this is all I have used I couldn't comment on the single ended operation.
I don't know how much of the leap in performance is down to now running my other components from their XLRs rather than RCA connections and how much is attributable to synergy and the Audio Experience A2 SE itself but MY system has never sounded so good. The soundstage has broadened and deepened, detailing is all as it should be and I'm finding that it responds to some tube rolling should you wish to go down that route. Usefully for your monoblocks it also has two ouputs.
Build quality is good but you won't mistake it for a Krell etc. and though it may be the cheapest component in my system, it is certainly not outclassed sonically. I have owned preamps that cost 3 and 4 times what this sells for and none of them gave me this much pleasure.
In a nutshell then I'm really enjoying mine and think its an absolute steal even at the full retail price...I'm certainly keeping mine for the foreseeable.
I should qualify the above by saying that the guy I bought it off thought it sounded better when using the balanced connections, as this is all I have used I couldn't comment on the single ended operation.