[Johnnyoz]

Hello,

I am new here and Klaus recently made me an awesome new Khartago amp.  Sounds great however I was using the tube pre from a Vincent SV500 Hybrid amp into the Khartago with a pair of Tekton Lores rated at 98dB sensitivity. I was getting a lot of noise/buzz from that set up. Plus i only had to turn the volume up a couple of notches to get really really loud. I think it was some mismatching in the impedance. I sold the vincent and now looking for a new preamp in the $800-1000~ range. I am looking at the Tortuga Audio LDR3 passive or active, Schiit Saga/Freya+ but i cant commit to anything right now. Are there any other good preamp suggestions for a high gain amp like the Khartago and the high sensitivity of the Tektons? I can be convinced either SS or Tube pres at this point. I just want something that has synergy and can hang with the incredible dynamics of the Tektons.

[aaron.luebke]

Odyssey Audio has some great pre’s.  I’ve had both new Candela and Tempest and preferred the Tempest.

Currently running the Rogue 99 Super
Magnum and like that better ( don’t tell Uncle Klaus..  )

[jjss49]

i would also recommend an odyssey pre

reason being that as terrific as they are, klaus's amps have pretty high input sensitivity, and it would be a pain to get another brand of pre that doesn't mate correctly, and you have to use the volume knob in the first quarter turn, for instance...  so get klaus to make you one that will work just right

am sure the price will be as reasonable as the amp...

[golfugh]

The Wyred4Sound STP plays nice with Klaus's amps.  I’m using the more expensive STP-SE Stage 2 with Kismets.  It’s an excellent passive/active pre! 

Mark

[qdrone]

Johnny,talk to Klaus,who by the way is a night owl so when you call him from down under he will be up. Til then crank Masters Apprentice! Welcome to the c.lub,I have Odyssey Liquid speakers.

[JackD]

Having owned and tried the combination myself I agree that the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE would be a great choice if you could get lucky enough in todays market to find one used in your price range.  For new in that price range I would look at the Van Alstine Transcendence 10B. Verify with Frank that the gain is around 12 db like I remember and if so that would be right in the perfect range for Odyssey amps.  There may still be some small amount of tube hiss if you get close enough to a speaker with that high of sensitivity and the same would be true for most any tube preamp.  The STP-SE on the other hand would be silent. 

[Loki57]

I would definitely talk with Klaus about synergy with his amps.

[DeeCee]

I currently use a Sonic Euphoria PLC, a passive device that uses an auto-transformer for volume control. It's colorless and reveals 3D detail on well recorded material. It works very well in my system.

Happy Listening!
DeeCee