Audible Illusions Preamp

I have tried the preamp which was an L1. Unfortunately it wasn't an improvement to my ARC LS-16. In comparison it was unrefined and little shut-in. I think what others have said about the Audible Illusions being compressed and lacking in dynamics may have mirrored my thoughts. The good thing is the unit comes quite close to the ARC at half the cost. May be a gem for those seeking a budget unit that sounds excellent at its price range.

I'm shocked to hear people say the Modulus 3A lacks dynamics. It must be an equipment mismatch. I'm intimately familiar with it in a system where it feeds a pair of Plinius SA100 MKIII driving a pair of Shahinian Hawks. The front end is a VPI MK IV with Moerch 4 and Dynavector DV-20XH. The combination is anything but lacking in dynamics! It would be extremely helpful to know what equipment was paired with the Mod 3A for those that found it lacking.

AI preamps can sound a little "shut-in" if the capacitor bypass switches are set to "in". To my ears, best sound is achieved with those capacitors set to "out" which results in better high frequency extension and air.

As I recall, HP's comments about the Audible Illusions were along the lines that, if dynamics were "it" the Modulus 3A would be King of The Hill. I think that says it all.

I had a 3A for a while and liked it a lot. I found it to be on the "lush" or "romantic" side of the spectrum and dynamics didn't really make much impression either way (good or bad).

I would note that, based on feedback in these forums, AI's customer service rep is likely among the worst in the business. IIRC, some years back, several people posted here about AI units sent in for service that were never seen again. I DO NOT have any first hand experience here, so I don't want to trash the company, but, in this case, I would definitely check the archives before purchasing.

Good Luck

Marty