|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
160.62.7.250
So, I have now done a bit of comparison between these two preamps and it was rather surprising how much more information was obvious in MUSICALLY imporatant ways with the Silvaweld. When one listened intently you realize that the all the information is there with the Audion but the textures are diminished and "thinned" out. Resolution of soundspace and imaging is superb for both and here the Audion is on the same level.
Bass is similar between the two but the Silvaweld "welds" the bass to the mids and therefore gives weight and drive to the sound and it is likely here where the Audion falls done and gives that "thinned" sensation.
In the end the Silvaweld is overall clearly superior in most ways but partcularly authortity and integration of the sound. Sense of transparency is about equal between the two.
In the highs with the Silvaweld, cymbals just sound so much more natural and distinct in their tonal character in a way I haven't heard with many other other preamps and only those that cost way more money (and not with many that cost way more money). Here it is clearly superior to either the Audion or the Puresound...it is impressive the way it differentiates between the highs. The Silvweld might sound a tiny bit "golden" here but not enough to say "aha it's colored".
So, by some margin I prefer the Silvaweld over the other two, more expensive, "budget" preamps. It simply sounds more real more often than the other two. The PureSound sometimes surprises you with the palpability and dynamics of individual instruments but things don't quite occupy their own "space" in the soundstage like the best preamps can do. The Silvaweld can do this and the palpability is quite close to the Puresound and quite a bit superior to the Audion.
So, I have to say that the Silvaweld will stay and maybe the PureSound will stay as an "experimental" preamp. I am thinking about replacing the output transformers with something more ambitious, like double "C" cores from Audio Note or Lundhal because I suspect that the stock output transformers are "holding back" this preamp.
Follow Ups:
You should also post over at the tube forum. A very knowledgeable and well informed bunch of guys that could help improve or help avoid costly dead ends.
I still would try an extensive tube rolling campaign.
charles
I did do some tube rolling for the Audion.
I replaced the stock (I don't know really what they were) with NOS Tesla Gold pins ECC88s and also with some NOS Russian 6N23Ps. Resolution improved a bit but the overall thinness of the sound did not. In the end it simply is not as interesting to listen to and that tells me information is missing or deemphasized (if you listen harder then you hear everything...but with the Silvaweld it is effortless more like at a live concert).
The Silvaweld already has very good NOS black plate 6072s (they say National but look identical inside to my GE Black plates that I have in my Silvaweld phonostage).
This to me wasn't a costly deadend trial...I could have used all the money spent on these three to get something more expensive but I wanted to see if I could get real magic for a fraction of the price. In the end I found that the Silvaweld delivers and the others to a lesser degree.
However, I still suspect the weak link in the PureSound is the output transformers. So, I may keep it and spend a few hundred bucks to get some really nice double C core preamp output trannies. That might elevate it to super status. If you are going to use transformers then they have to be really really good and I suspect that these are merely good.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: