[dgotlse]

Hello,

I am today's newbie here and I'll be soon the happy owner of a Stratos dual Mono.

I was considering buying a EE Minimax Preamp.

It is a good match? I have been told that a low gain preamp was needed to work properly with the Statos?

My alternative choice are (apart Tempest which is still on my list):
- Rogue Audio Metis
- FT Audio passive Little Wonder
- Monolithic audio passive
- IRD Purist.

All suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks

[TheChairGuy]

Hello,

I am today's newbie here and I'll be soon the happy owner of a Stratos dual Mono.

I was considering buying a EE Minimax Preamp.

It is a good match? I have been told that a low gain preamp was needed to work properly with the Statos?

My alternative choice are (apart Tempest which is still on my list):
- Rogue Audio Metis
- FT Audio passive Little Wonder
- Monolithic audio passive
- IRD Purist.

All suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks

Bienvenu!

I had the IRD Purist...it is extremely well made and if SS preamp is appealling, it is a great value.  However, I found it to be very high gain 2 years ago (I do not know if this has changed more recently), so it might not be good match for Stratos.

It was blowing me out of my room on the first or second click matched to Norh Multiamps back then.

I use a (tube) Dynaco PAS-4 with my Khartago and am very pleased  

[Eduardo AAVM]

MiniMax works great with Stratos, ask Bill O´Conell about the upgrade which aside other benefits lowers output ipedance so it is better suited to match Stratos.

But anyway you should also consider Tempest, it is a gret performer all around.

[dgotlse]

Chair Guy, thanks for your input.

As far as I know the gain can now be reduced as low as 0db on the Purist on listener's choice.

At roughly 800$ delivered to France, the Purist is still a bang for the buck preamp and is worth to be on my short list.

The fact is that a tube preamp/solid state amp combo is very attractive too.

Thanks for your input

[dgotlse]

Eduardo,

thanks for your input, this choice is not an easy one and I am not sure that I'll be able to find a new and modded EE Minimax in France.

This preamp is quite new here and I don't that neither the German importer or the French importer will be able to bring the needed improvments to my unit.

Unfortunately I can't buy my unit directly from Bill and can't take advantage of his advices and mods.

[Eduardo AAVM]

Well, ask Bill about this, maybe he can train and sell the parts to your local dealer.

[audiojerry]

Welcome to the Circle. It's nice to have an international sharing of information. Not commenting specifically on your inquiry, I'm curious why you are not considering any of the great hi-end components available from Europe. The Brits, Italians, Germans, and French make some great sounding  and great looking gear..

[dgotlse]

I've just read some info regarding the Prima Luna Prologue 3: it seems to be a strong competitor ro EE Minimax.

Its price in Europe is about the same than the Minimax but it comes with strong strenghs:

- double mono
- low gain

Any experience with it around ?

[Eduardo AAVM]

By the way, as you are in Europa pick some Stereoplay or Audio german magazines.

Incredible magazines, best in world... Can you imagine testing speaker stands for resonance and sound ? Evaluate speaker toeing(?) angle to get a precise stereo imagery ?

Well there is a brand called Lua Cantilena you should check also...

I think Europe is an audio paradise.

[guest1632]

Chair Guy, thanks for your input.

As far as I know the gain can now be reduced as low as 0db on the Purist on listener's choice.

At roughly 800$ delivered to France, the Purist is still a bang for the buck preamp and is worth to be on my short list.

The fact is that a tube preamp/solid state amp combo is very attractive too.

Thanks for your input

I own the Purist. You would have to ask Curt about ordering it with the 240V option. It comes here in the States with 110V as standard. The gain is 0, 6, and 9.5 DB. No record out, which I was bugging Curt to put in. It has 2 independent output stages. Very well built, I think you could almost stand on it. Don't think you'd find it a bad piece at all. TNT-Audio has a review of it.

the 6 and 9 DB positions add just a bit of punch wich is pleasant, and doesn't hurt the sound at all. That's really the only things I notice different at all.

Ray

[Ferdi]

Hi, I have the purist in combination with a Stratos, a plus in my case.

There is an older thread (circa Christmas 2004) where I was nagging Curt about the high gain of the Purist, making it hard to get the sound down low enough. This has now been fixed, I've moved to a bigger house.

I am still very happy with both my Stratos and Purist. of course, there are always other options......

Oh yes, I am in the Netherlands and have the 240V version of the Purist. Shipping to Europe was extremely fast. I ordered on Thursday or Friday and had it in my hands on Monday. I can't get that done on stuff I order locally!
Great service from IRD (and Fedex)

[guest1632]

Hi, I have the purist in combination with a Stratos, a plus in my case.

There is an older thread (circa Christmas 2004) where I was nagging Curt about the high gain of the Purist, making it hard to get the sound down low enough. This has now been fixed, I've moved to a bigger house. :lol:

I am still very happy with both my Stratos and Purist. of course, there are always other options......

Oh yes, I am in the Netherlands and have the 240V version of the Purist. Shipping to Europe was extremely fas ...

Hi Well, I know Curt was working on some designs to attenuate below 0 DB, but he hasn't come out with that yet. At least as far as I know.

Ray