[charmerci]

Preamp on it's way to Charmerci. Have fun Charlie. PM sent.

Ron

   It's going to be a long week until it arrives! Thanks!

[ArthurDent]

Sweet build Ron, very nice work. 

[charmerci]

Well, I've listened to it for a bit now and it's a very nice pre-amp. Compared to my Odyssey Tempest, it is brighter (high frequencies are more prominent) and forward, mainly because the soundstage is not as deep. It doesn't seem to have as full and deep bass but not by much. The Tempest sound a bit more full from top to bottom but not by much either.


I think this compares with any pre-amp under.... $1K? IDK, I haven't compared any in such a long time. (I've only listened to my Tempest since '13.) Certainly and excellent $500 and under pre-amp. (Though Ron has a couple tiny bugs with this one to work out.)


Can anyone (Ron?) put this in a compact black chassis and sell it for $400? I'd highly recommend that!

[rlee8394]

Charlie,

Thanks for the kind review. I've sent you a PM concerning the issues. In the interest of full disclosure, the issues were noisy volume and balance controls and some flaky RCA jacks on the back panel. I asked Charlie to send it back to me for all new RCA jacks and new volume and balance controls. When replaced, I've offered to send it back to him if he wishes, or to the next person who wishes to audition the preamp.

I'm surprised it held up well against the Odyssey Tempest. My intent was to just build something to update a Dyna PAT-4 unit. I hate to see those units end up in the trash heap when they can be easily refurbished. Of course this could be built into a new chassis with little effort, or into another preamp chassis such as the Dyna PAT-5 or other similar chassis.

Charlie also wasn't able to evaluate the phono stage, I believe, as he has no turntable in his system. I would be very interested if there were others willing to put it through it's paces for both phono as well as line sections, especially compared to a stock Dynaco unit.

Let me know if any are interested in an evaluation.

Thanks,
Ron

[charmerci]

Well, it was very nice of Ron to send me his PAT4 pre-amp to review.
Some final thoughts. With very good recordings, it was sometimes hard to hear differences in pre-amps. However with lesser recordings, especially with less bass and harsher high frequencies and at higher volumes, the difference was palatable - a bit harder on my ears.
I think though that system is dialed in such way that I would need to change more than one piece to change its fundamental sound.

It's a really nice inexpensive kit for those who are into DIY and on a budget. I suspect though that it's dated, retro looks seem to make it not a very popular item. If you have this lying around, I seriously doubt any burglar would think that it wasn't worth much no matter how good it sounds.
Thanks again to Ron. (It's on its way back.) I think I'll stick with my Tempest.