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I've been living happily for over a year now with a Cary SLP 98 F1, but after an upgrade in speakers, I'm looking for a preamp with more transparency and better dynamics.I've heard the Modwright and it's dynamic, but something about it felt uninvolving (I tried all sorts of tubes and tweaks too).
The Cary sounds a little fat. Very nice w/ my previous Martin Logans, which were real lean sounding with the Modwright. But now that I've got a pair of Parsifals, I'm looking for a more refined, transparent and dynamic preamp, without losing the midrange magic.
So, all that said, how much would I need to spend to beat out the Cary? Used works. Only requirement is RCA input/output.
Follow Ups:
Give VTL a listen, I went from the SLP98f1 to a VTL TL-5.5 and am very happy with the change.
Steve,I have owned both Verity Parsifals and a Cary SLP 98. I regret selling the Parsifals, but I'm happy I replaced the Cary with an Emotive Audio Sira. You can search the archives for more of my posts or send me an email.
Yes, i've optimized speaker placement and actually lived with the F1 with NOS tubes for a while. They improved the preamp substantially, but it's still not as dynamic or transparent as I've heard. The tubes I've rolled include TungSol black glass round plates, Raytheons and Sylvania 6SN7W.I think i'm down to one of the following three, which would you vote for?
Lamm LL2 deluxe -- maybe too laid back? I prefer a forward presentation.
Aesthetix Calypso -- maybe too noisy or fussy?
Herron VTSP 1A/166 -- maybe too sterile or cold?
Change the main capacitors and bypass them with a .22 MIT RTX cap.
...FWIW.But I realize that sometimes it's just time to buy new equipment.
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Tin-eared audiofool and obsessed landscape fotografer.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
you want a buy one? :-)
.
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Tin-eared audiofool and obsessed landscape fotografer.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
Steve,
You have gone through a lot of equipment.
After reading all the posts and your responses, seems to me you will not be satisfied unless you book a live band to play nighly...then again?! :^)
NT
yes, i need help.i chalk it up to a major (time + money) learning experience. it's been fun! part of the enjoyment is experimenting. from all the gear i've had, the absolute best performers came from my VAC 70/70 mk3 and VAC Ren. pre. best value for the money came from VTLs.
that said, i now have the best speakers i've ever heard, and in turn, i think the best sound.
DC Steve you must be referring to the vtl 7.5 correct? May I ask what speakers you have saying the best that youve heard?
you need to think about the 98's tubes. What are you using now for 6SN7s? My 98 is quick and airy. I use Raytheon NOS VT-231s in the rear sockets and NOS 1952 Sylvania 6SN7 GTs in front. With the Raytheons in the back sockets, you can tune your pre and system sound by changing the front two 6SN7s. Want it even a bit leaner, use two TungSol round plates, jucier would be Sylvania 6SN7W, more even is Sylvania VT-231s, etc. My 98 is just like your F1 except for cosmetics.
I have the same Raytheons in back, with Tung-Sol round plates up front...no lack of speed, air, detail or bass extension/power delivery here.
"Your liver suffers dearly now for youthful magic moments...so rock on completely with some brand new components"
Just wondered if you played around with the room acoustics before condemning the preamp.Just a thought.
...is tonally rich, perhaps forgiving, perhaps soft in detail*. I'll bet their choice of coupling caps has a great deal to do with that. Perhaps you could get more of what you want--tonal neutrality and detail resolution--by replacing the couplers with known-excellent-and-neutral caps such as the SoniCap Platinum or the V-Cap TFTF. They're both expensive, especially the latter, but a couple pairs of caps plus labor surely would cost lots less than a new preamp.Secondly, if you're not in the new-coupling-caps mood, consider the newish conrad-johnson preamps. The CT6 and CT5 are both receiving very positive reviews, and they're affordable. I sure love my MET1, the 6-channel equivalent of the 2-channel CT6.
* Guys, don't pick on me for critcising Carey gear; I'm only trying to summarize what I recall reading.
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Tin-eared audiofool and obsessed landscape fotografer.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
Hi Steve,I'm curious if you've heard the Modwright with the new tube rectified PS. It's a whole different piece from the older version. Plenty of midrange warmth and fullness and much more holographic than previously, w/o sacrificing dynamics or extension. IMS, IMO, of course, though several others have said the same thing (see the Modwright forum on Audio Circles). Said to improve even further with a Mullard 5AR4 and Bendix 6900s which I haven't tried yet.
Dan has also just released a new top of the line linestage, the LS36. My wallet is afraid to hear that one :~).
I, too, have Parsifals, and I, too, owned the Cary 98. The Aesthetix pre is more refined and dynamic, with better clarity and soundstaging. I'm totally delighted with it.
i'm looking at the aesthetix calypso now actually, it's on my short list. the parsifal is a bit on the polite side, i'd be curious to hear how you'd describe the calypso, does it bring the soundstage forward at all? in my mind that would be a plus with my current rig...
I had the Modwright and yes in my system, it was definately dynamic but left something out. "Hard" best describes the sound in my experience. I also had the DeHavilland UltraVerve which was definately a step up sound wise. With the UV, I realized that I prefer the sound of 6SN7 tubes in my chain. I tried the Cary SLP 98 but, like you, I found it fat and overly lush sounding. I ended up getting a Supratek Chenin and I'm very pleased with the sonics of my system. It posesses the dynamics of the Modwright, the finesse of the DeHavilland with the richness of the Cary. NOS tubes took the Chenin to another level. If you don't need a phonostage that the Chenin has, you could pick up a Supratek Chardonnay.
thanks much. i've owned a syrah in the past and loved it. i agree w/ you it had a great mix of dynamic/lush. i felt it had a weakness in projecting a 3-D soundstage tho, which i want. this was in comparison to a vac renaissance preamp tho, so probalby not a fair comparison. maybe i want too much? the other problem i have with the supratek line is service... mick is great, no doubt, but he lives in australia, and makes it rough to get something back to him when things go wrong (i had a minor issue with my volume pot that i ended up getting resolved by bill thallman out in suburbs of dc).
Why didn't you keep the VAC Renaissance?Even the VAC Standard LE is a great piece IMO, surprisingly resolved and musical even compared directly to SOTA SS pieces..
I agree this is a great pre for the money. VAC does Pre's right. Maybe the Standard LE would be good enough for you in a second system?
was building a second system, pulled money out by selling the vac. i used to own the 70/70 too. i regret selling both of those pieces, they were really the best i've heard yet...
I still own VAC 30/30 and am always hoping I will run into an affordable VAC Ren pre one day. Second systems be damned!
I'll agree with the TVC, which replaced the Cary SLP-98 in my system. Also, you may want to try a Herron preamp. On the used market the non-remote version is under $2k. The new model with remote is a bit more.
....if the rest of your system is passive friendly.
Which one though Ozzy theirs a few out their now,theirs a cheap one in a wood box that I dont care for just because of the looks,lol,then their are others,mid to high price range,I could name brands but whats the point!
I would be more than happy to put the wood box up against your passive preamp.;-)
Well sorry to tell ya Gmood1 well never no will we? I sold mine going directly off my Cary 308T CdPlayer which has a built in volume control with a remote, even better detail just as smooth and plenty of of bass a matched a made in heaven!Its all in the system mating!Oh and I did do a follow up on the Promitheus TVC they now carry a unit thats in stainless that looks nice and a gd price,If I need another passive unit Ill take a look at it.I also updated my system profile,lets put up against each others systems not our passive preamps and lets see who gets the the thumbs up!
lol...I would gladly do that my friend. You are always welcome over for a listen. Just don't leave upset!;-)Nice system by the way. Honestly you gotta do better than that for me to tuck and run.I left main stream hifi a while back.. never to return. I found musical bliss outside of name brand mainstream gear.
It sounds crazy but chances are your CD player will sound better with the TVC in between it and the amplifier.
Thanks,Gd to know that their are a few audio buffs out here that have bragging rights with their gear and with humor!I was looking at a intergrated amp but If I stay seperate I might pull the trigger on the stainless steel version it looks sweet and for the money 450 plus shpping not bad.But I wonder why I see so many of the highly reviewed Sonic Euphoria PLC witch is TVC too,so many for sale on audiogon?
Yes I noticed this as well. I'm not sure why so many for sale. Maybe the guy is selling a lot of them. It's hard to gauge the performance of a component by how many of a them are for sale.I like to keep some light humor about this hobby. lol
There's really no such thing as best. Only what's best for you and your taste in your room.I'm sure your system sounds great! I just like to kid around most of the time. Life's too short to get upset about this stuff.
All the best
I do have one question though how does the volume control feel and is their any noise between changes?The volume control in my old mod squad deluxe line drive had the penny giles pot in it which to this day I feel is the best ever made the feel was so firm and smooth and noise free!Rock on:)
The newest version volume controls feel very solid. There's a light click for every step.Dual mono is definitely the way to go. It is the best sounding of all the versions I've heard IMHO. Sounds like your unit used pots as volume controls..Is this true?If so you'll hear another side of music through TVCs..which don't use volume pots. Not bragging...this is very true.
i was looking at the django and others. i'm a little unsure it'll work. my IC from preamp to amp is 3 meters and needs to be with my setup. source to preamp is 1 m. input impedence on my amps is 500K, which i think is pretty good. would it work?
I wouldn't worry too much about cable length. TVCs aren't as sensitive to this as resistor based passives. Your input impedence is fine. Two more things to check for are amp voltage gain/input sensitivity and your speaker's sensitivity. I would say good ballpark figures would be around 89-90 db sens. for the speakers and somewhere around 1.2 mV or less (the lower the number the better here) sens. for the amp.
well, amp sensitivity is 2mV - 1.5db and speaker sensitivity is 89db. prob not the right amp?
If you ment .22v for full output ..@ ? input impendance.You should be very o.k...I run one with a .33v sens 100K tube amp w/ 92db speakers & all was well..I would'nt worry about the speaker specs.. just sens.. & input impendance..Long cables after the TVC doesn't seem to matter much..not real long but sane runs..I run IC's very short from DAC to TVC then 1M after that to amp..works real well..Doesn't work real well with alot of my other 1.5v & up sens amps though..but I run very low voltage DAC's.....make sure it is a full output rating on your amp.
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