Pre- amp suggestions

[Truthslayer]

We are currently building my youngest daughter a 2 (2.1) channel set up. Gear is going to be all silver as she says, she wants that classy look (lol). Currently I will be giving her a spare Anthem MCA 20 amp and just ordered a Modi 3 for the DAC, ( which I will test out first and give you my impressions). As far as speakers go, I think she has already made her choice with the help from her boyfriend. And has yet to tell me what speakers she is getting.
On to the preamp side, im having a hard time thinking of a quality one that comes in silver. And no please say the Parasound Halo P5 or P6. Not going down that road after the fiasco with the P5 and all that crap they put me through. So any suggestions being a passive or active pre would be appreciated. Just remember, has to come in Silver.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

RC-1590

For music enthusiasts who won’t accept compromise, the reference RC-1590 preamplifier is in a class by itself.

rotel.com

There you go.

Silver, audiophile, 20lbs, lots of buttons, lots of inputs/outputs, built-in DAC, MM phono, USB for Apple.

Wow, impress your friends.

 

[Truthslayer]

RC-1590

For music enthusiasts who won’t accept compromise, the reference RC-1590 preamplifier is in a class by itself.

rotel.com

There you go.

Silver, audiophile, 20lbs, lots of buttons, lots of inputs/outputs, built-in DAC, MM phono, USB for Apple.

Wow, impress your friends.

Cant believe I forgot about the rotel. I actually tried that out myself for about a month before I made the mistake going with Parasound. The rotel did have great channel balance and decent sound, however I found the bass to be lacking and what was there was to muddy. The rest of the sound was great, I just couldn't get over the muddy bass. And the different bass notes just seem to be all congealed together, not very good separation of bass notes if you know what I mean. Plus the bass was not tight when it should have been.
But I will mention it to her, it's her money and final decision after all. But thanks for the input.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

It sure her age, but god bless her!!!
Way too many lazy A$$ BT portable cell phone speaker kids these days. I don’t let my family use them. We have one BT speaker, and 5 people in my house. We also have two 5.1, one 7.3.4, two 2.1 and two 2.0ch systems. NO EXCUSES!!! Lol. It all of them are super awesome, and no, I doubt always want to listen everyone else’s music. BUT, at the end of the day everyone gets a good experience.

 

[PENG]

, im having a hard time thinking of a quality one that comes in silver.

How about the "Great British sound".

Choose region | Cambridge Audio

www.cambridgeaudio.com

Excellent specs to.. I have the 840e for quite a few years now, no complain, but the 850e is better.

 

[Truthslayer]

It sure her age, but god bless her!!!
Way too many lazy A$$ BT portable cell phone speaker kids these days. I don’t let my family use them. We have one BT speaker, and 5 people in my house. We also have two 5.1, one 7.3.4, two 2.1 and two 2.0ch systems. NO EXCUSES!!! Lol. It all of them are super awesome, and no, I doubt always want to listen everyone else’s music. BUT, at the end of the day everyone gets a good experience.

Well she just turned 27 and is finally realizing the only way she is going to get the sound she is after. Is with a full size set up. She made a few mistakes along the way with trying a few bookshelf speakers and some cheap receivers ( I think due to her boyfriends input LoL). But yes im glad pretty much all of my kids have some sort of set up. She was just the last to start getting serious about it.

 

[Truthslayer]

How about the "Great British sound".

Choose region | Cambridge Audio

www.cambridgeaudio.com

Excellent specs to.. I have the 840e for quite a few years now, no complain, but the 850e is better.

View attachment 32213

Peng, thanks for that suggestion. I like the looks and specs, features etc of the Cambridge. I am definitely going to check it out and have her take gander at it. Looks promising. Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[Truthslayer]

Peng after some quick searches, it appears they are discontinued and no one has any left for sale. Grrrrr

But it did however just dawn on me, that Schitt audio has that new Freya S preamp. Plus it has the balance connections she was hoping for. And the price is so reasonable, it makes me wonder.

 

[PENG]

Peng after some quick searches, it appears they are discontinued and no one has any left for sale. Grrrrr

But it did however just dawn on me, that Schitt audio has that new Freya S preamp. Plus it has the balance connections she was hoping for. And the price is so reasonable, it makes me wonder.

As digital streaming, desktop dacs with volume control are gaining popularity, It is getting hard to find pre-amps nowadays (especially if it must be silver colored) because if they don't have the demand they can't compete. Obviously if you look to the audiophile class in the higher price range then there are still plenty of choices, such as Yamaha's, Bryston's at the lower end, and Audio Research's and Krell's in the slightly higher end.

Would she not consider preamp/dacs with digital inputs only? Some of those are very affordable, e.g. below $300, yet I have no doubt they would beat many much more expensive gear such as the Parasound ones you mentioned. Some even accept analog inputs, in fact I have a couple of Oppo DACs (both discontinued too that have such feature, one go through A to D, the other would act as an analog preamp.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

I found the bass to be lacking and what was there was to muddy. The rest of the sound was great, I just couldn't get over the muddy bass.

Muddy bass. That's confusing.

 

[sterling shoote]

Muddy bass. That's confusing.

Confuses me too. However, I'm clueless to how the bass heard as being "muddy" was managed. Managing bass with a stereo preamp is not managing bass at all for the most part, requiring external crossover for both the sub and mains. With that sort of management, the preamp would not be suspect at all for the "muddy" bass.

 

[Erod]

You daughter is the only woman I've heard of that hears or cares about this stuff. LOL

My wife and daughters look at me weird when I make audio improvements to my theater room. They say they can't hear any difference, even though it's plainly obvious to any of us.

 

[Truthslayer]

Muddy bass. That's confusing.

I guess I could or should have worded that differently. The bass was just not tight, quick and accurate when it should have been. And I do credit that to the pre 1590 because those problems were not present in the Halo or the passive pre I have.

 

[Truthslayer]

You daughter is the only woman I've heard of that hears or cares about this stuff. LOL

My wife and daughters look at me weird when I make audio improvements to my theater room. They say they can't hear any difference, even though it's plainly obvious to any of us.

Yes makes me kind of proud she is getting so into it. All of the kids really. Probably because there was almost always music being played since they were born. Constant equipment upgrades etc. Makes me even more proud how much they know and are into the 60's and 70's music.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

I guess I could or should have worded that differently. The bass was just not tight, quick and accurate when it should have been. And I do credit that to the pre 1590 because those problems were not present in the Halo or the passive pre I have.

Hmmm. It would interesting if the Parasound and the Rotel could be tested together at the same time double-blind and volume-matched. I realize some preamps come with external tone controls, but testing both devices blind would still be interesting.

 

[Truthslayer]

Hmmm. It would interesting if the Parasound and the Rotel could be tested together at the same time double-blind and volume-matched.

Agreed, it's to bad really, because other than the bass issue I spoke of. It was really a nice unit. My dealer had also stated he thought the Parasound out performed the Rotel. Which actually surprised me, because im sure there is more of a dealers profit on the Rotel. That's the great thing about audio gear today, we have so many different options. What some may not like others will fall in love and vice a versa.
And the Parasound P5 really is not that bad except for the darn vol pot issues. You would think a company like that would have done right by their owners and do upgrades to the vol pots. However I guess the profits outweighed there product pride.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Bryston is a little pricey, but their BP series are nice.

 

[KEW]

I'm just putting this out there because it is the first thing I thought of when you said 2.1 and silver.
This would consolidate everything into one component/remote and properly cross over the bass!

RR2160 Stereo Receiver

 

[Truthslayer]

I probably should have mentioned, her goal was to keep it around or under 1k. If the right unit comes up that she really likes, I may be willing to kick in a few bucks. But I'm not sure i want her knowing that.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Yes, I think the Outlaw RR2160 is the best product mentioned so far.

Excellent value per dollar. They have sales this time of the year too.