I think I kind of started with a Coda as well, as it was Innersounds preamp, and sounded awesome. Wanted more, moved up to the Ayre K5xeMP and it was awesome and showed me I needed more. I went with the Jeff Rowland Criterion and haven't looked back. Heard the Gamut and CJ and all good by Mr. Rowland builds very special gear. More texture, more emotion and battery power puts you in a different world.
Should I Switch Preamps?
Hi all, I've got the itch to change things up... I'll try not to make this too lengthy. I've been using an Odd Coda preamp... when looking for a pre in 2010, I contacted Doug at Coda. At that time Coda was switching over from the Line Stage CL to a unit that has phono built in CP.... He had 1 CL circuit boards left, but was out of CL chassis's, but had 1 Windows Continuum 4 Chassis. So I own a Coda CL that looks like a Continuum 4. At the time I had the very best Sumo Model Nine that I had ever seen... Back in the my Marcof/SpeakerCraft Days, we used to Sell Sumo and Modded many.... I snagged a Nine and took it to Ed Martin of Marcof.... He looked at the circuit carefully at one time, he debated Jim B about some things in this amp, but cost was an issue so the Nine Is what it Is.... Ed took this Nine and transformed it. Well, I had a lightening strike about 2 years ago and lost my Nine. I purchased a Coda Unison 3.1 to use until I decided what to do.... You guys that know this Integrated know that it is 125 watts to 8 and 250 to 4 with the first 35 watts being Class A.....I finally took my Old Sumo to Ed, the original outputs are obsolete. he has found a Motorola that he can do a few mods to the amp and make it work fine... so I hope to get my old Sumo back with even more improvements soon....
So my Coda CL.... Coda is so well known for their amps but you just don't hear much about their pre's.... Overall, I have been very happy with this, I've compared it to a Pass X10 and the very picky and Proud X10 owner ended up saying that he couldn't tell them apart. Which isn't surprising considering the Coda heritage....
Still, I have the itch to try something else.... I've decided to sell my Coda integrated and my Coda Pre, get another pre and use some home brewed Abletec Class D amps until my Sumo is back.... I'm just praying that I don't kick myself for letting my Coda go for a song and getting something that don't like as well.
So, even though my thought has searched through tubes, in the past, I got tired of tube rolling and not leaving my pre on and I really think that I'm staying solid state... My budget is preferred to at $1000 to maybe $1700....
My Shortlist as been:
Jeff Rowland Capri
Conrad Johnson Premier 18LS (but I'd like 2 sets of outputs for a sub)
Audio Research LS-12
Bel Canto Pre 2 or Pre 3
Lastly would consider a Classe Six or CP60 or possibly a Muse Model 3 Signature...
Overall, I prefer the rich organic textured mid range of tubes, but the frequency extensions of SS.
Overall sound stage is as important to me as frequency balance...
I've seen at one time or another, every pre on my list within my budget range. Any opinions or other options are appreciated. I will most likely list my Integrated and pre here on Agon first along with a Technics SP25 with an ATP-12T arm that I have filled with dampening putty and it is quite dead.
So My audiophile brothers and sisters, please advise.
Tim
So my Coda CL.... Coda is so well known for their amps but you just don't hear much about their pre's.... Overall, I have been very happy with this, I've compared it to a Pass X10 and the very picky and Proud X10 owner ended up saying that he couldn't tell them apart. Which isn't surprising considering the Coda heritage....
Still, I have the itch to try something else.... I've decided to sell my Coda integrated and my Coda Pre, get another pre and use some home brewed Abletec Class D amps until my Sumo is back.... I'm just praying that I don't kick myself for letting my Coda go for a song and getting something that don't like as well.
So, even though my thought has searched through tubes, in the past, I got tired of tube rolling and not leaving my pre on and I really think that I'm staying solid state... My budget is preferred to at $1000 to maybe $1700....
My Shortlist as been:
Jeff Rowland Capri
Conrad Johnson Premier 18LS (but I'd like 2 sets of outputs for a sub)
Audio Research LS-12
Bel Canto Pre 2 or Pre 3
Lastly would consider a Classe Six or CP60 or possibly a Muse Model 3 Signature...
Overall, I prefer the rich organic textured mid range of tubes, but the frequency extensions of SS.
Overall sound stage is as important to me as frequency balance...
I've seen at one time or another, every pre on my list within my budget range. Any opinions or other options are appreciated. I will most likely list my Integrated and pre here on Agon first along with a Technics SP25 with an ATP-12T arm that I have filled with dampening putty and it is quite dead.
So My audiophile brothers and sisters, please advise.
Tim
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- 39 posts total
Hi all, took a risk last night an purchased a pre that I was unfamiliar with. here on Agon. Worst comes to worst, I'll sell it off, but it sound promising. T&A Elektroakustik P1230R http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/one-of-the-best-preamps-youve-never-heard/ |
timlub, Lots of options presented. I will throw one more in for you to consider. The Sutherland N1. A complete preamp design if there ever was one. Ron Sutherlands finest phono stage (input 1) + line stage (inputs 2-5) + a white noise generator (input 6). 2 Preamp outputs so you can drive a sub amplifier or whatever. Practically immune to long cable runs as long as you use reasonable cables. See it here: http://sutherlandengineering.com/products/n1/ Owners Manual: http://www.sutherlandengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sutherland-N1-OwnersManual.pdf Design and build are exemplary. Sound is accurate and images like crazy. Happy hunting! |
@perazzi28 That does look incredible.... getting one for a couple thousand dollars would be just as incredible.... I pulled the trigger a couple of nights ago on a T+A Elektroakustic preamp. I expect to get it tomorrow. I posted a review earlier and here is an Agon thread about it. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/anyone-heard-of-t-a-theory-and-application |
- 39 posts total