[dkd7]

My current thoughts are to upgrade my stock RLD-1, but considering other used preamps in the $1500 range.

Right now my main 2CH gear is a Marantz SA8005 used as both a CD player and DAC for my Aries Mini, preamp is the RLD-1, and amp is a DNA-1 which was upgraded to Ultra Platinum in late 2017 as a 2018 upgrade.

The amp is wonderful, but I feel the pre is (possibly) the current bottleneck. The sq is VERY good, very organic and lifelike, huge center image, vocals have the singer in the room, not just in front of me.

I guess the only area I see missing is some macro details. I can hear the wood of the guitar, the singer taking in subtle breaths, but some quiet passages lack detail, the midrange and bass could be cleaner and fuller.

I have added blue fuses to the DNA-1 and that was a noticeable improvement. I also experimented with the RLD-1 by swapping out the hard leads from PCB to RCA jacks on one input and output. I tried Mundorf silver and Cardas Litz wires and the Litz seemed to add some detail.

I'm curious what can be done to the RLD-1...maybe the power supply, some caps? Also been debating a Hegel P20 or P4A Mk2 pre. I would like to keep the HT bypass function.

My speakers are Polk SDA 2.3 TL which have been extensively upgraded and still continue to portray all my upgrades as they happen. While I know there are better speakers for critical listening, I can say they are currently not my sole limiting factor. The image, detail, soundstage they provide are exceptional and are immensly lifelike in sound quality....so no plans to change them.

Honestly the rig sounds way beyond what I expected, to the point where I could leave it be, but I know there's more to be had so I'm curious to hear all opinions.

I love my McCormack gear, would like to keep the pair, just exploring options right now with the preamp.

All input appreciated.

[BobM]

I had a DNA .5 Deluxe paired with the TLC-1 passive preamp and, though it was very transparent sounding, it lacked something to my ears. Perhaps a bit cold, dunno. But I upgraded the preamp to a tubed unit and never looked back. I got an Audio Prism Mantissa, but there are many really good tubed preamps to try.

I now have a DNA 500 and still use this preamp. Tube rolling made a big difference, of course, as did swapping out the coupling caps for better quality and beefing up the power supply. YMMV but I strongly suggest borrowing somethign with tubes and trying it out before you throw money down the upgrade path on the RLD.

Best of luck.

[dkd7]

I did try a VTL 2.5 with the DNA-1, rolled many tubes but the gain seemed a bit high on the VTL. I believe this might have been an early model with a higher gain but I recall a switch for the gain but still had loads of tube rush. This kinda spooked me from tubes for a little bit but I know there are quieter tube pre's out there, not ruling them out though.

My gear has quite a dark background, detailed, lifelike, but I can't put my finger on exactly what is missing, but a small part of me thinks it may lie in the power supply to the preamp. Who knos, maybe it's still very quiet but I remember going to a LPS with the Aries and the dark background really became darker and detailed. Almost like that's all the RLD needs. Just a wild hunch.

[djpk]

I also have a McCormack RLD-1 and it has the optional black face plate. It is a great piece of gear although I'm not currently using it because all my gear use XLR cables. You can have your RLD-1 upgraded by the designer of the RLD-1, Steve McCormack. I think he has a variety of upgrades you can choose from. His web site is:
https://smcaudio.net/