[tdinut]

Thanks Anonamemouse and D.D.,I remember now it being talked about it. I just got my GAT hooked up and I am blown away. I absolutely love it.

[redbook]

 Balanced  as done the best for me   

[Anonamemouse]

Thanks Anonamemouse and D.D.,I remember now it being talked about it. I just got my GAT hooked up and I am blown away. I absolutely love it.

VERY nice pre amp as well!!! Would love to hear it next to mine and hear how it differs!

[tdinut]

Thank you. I bet yours sounds great as well. I am realizing there is no one best. Personal preference, the type of music, and ancillary equipment all plays a role in the final outcome.

[spinner]

:

[Diamond Dog]

VERY nice pre amp as well!!! Would love to hear it next to mine and hear how it differs!

I'd love to hear that comparo !

Without a doubt, two lovely pre's, gentlemen !
+1 on not having any issues with an all-RCA pre in my system. I've read a discussion with EveAnna Manley where she discussed their weighing whether or not to go balanced with the 300B pre and in the end, they decided in favour of the most straightforward signal path which to them meant RCA's.

D.D.     

[tdinut]

I'd love to hear that comparo !

Without a doubt, two lovely pre's, gentlemen !
+1 on not having any issues with an all-RCA pre in my system. I've read a discussion with EveAnna Manley where she discussed their weighing whether or not to go balanced with the 300B pre and in the end, they decided in favour of the most straightforward signal path which to them meant RCA's.

D.D.   

I think Conrad Johnson feels the same way. Balanced adds extra parts and complexity. Most of the CJ gear is phase inverting so as to leave out additional parts just to invert the signal again. Depending what I hook up, some amps need the + and - reversed at the speakers to compensate for the phase inversion. All I can say is that it sounds d@mn good. So they must be doing something right

[Diamond Dog]

I think Conrad Johnson feels the same way. Balanced adds extra parts and complexity. Most of the CJ gear is phase inverting so as to leave out additional parts just to invert the signal again. Depending what I hook up, some amps need the + and - reversed at the speakers to compensate for the phase inversion. All I can say is that it sounds d@mn good. So they must be doing something right

Concur, Joe. As I said to someone recently, it is my intention to be buried with my Neo-Classic 300B. It's the perfect pre for me - both unbalanced!

See you at the Inquisition, boys.

D.D.

[tdinut]

One thing I hope is that my GAT mates well with a pair of 7BSST2's or 28BSST2's. I will eventually own a pair because I was very impressed with a 4BSST2 I heard recently. I was shocked how nice it sounded. The output impedance of the GAT is under 100 ohms. Does anyone see any problem mating the GAT to the Bryston amps?

[Diamond Dog]

Output impedance on my Manley is 100 ohms - no issues with 7BSST 2's here. Previous pre was a Manley Jumbo Shrimp with output impedance of 50 ohms -no issues with my 7BSST 2's with the Shrimp either.
 
D.D.

[tdinut]

Thanks D.D.,
Much appreciated.

[Levi]

Balanced  as done the best for me   

Agreed!

My BAT preamp does not have RCA, it has adjustable gain on all the inputs + 6x 6H30 super tube in dual mono configuration.  They are simply icing on the cup cake.   

I am sure Bryston can do it.  However, it costs money to implement.  Anyone wants a Bryston 26 pre to cost twice as much? 

[Sasha]

In all the posts here that claim unbalanced operation is better I do not see that anyone has compared balanced and unbalanced connectivity performance on the same device, only that a device featuring unbalanced connectivity was used with satisfying result, which cannot be the base for conclusion that unbalanced operation is better, I think anyone can see through this false logic.
Claims from some manufacturers that the decision to go with unbalanced connectivity only was based purely on performance due to simplicity is very questionable, it has more to do with keeping the cost down than anything else and again cannot be the base for conclusion that unbalanced operation is better.
There are many manufacturers beside Bryston that provide both balanced and unbalanced connectivity, and many of them are not of professional heritage, yet I do not know of a single one that claims balanced is not the better performer.
This is a recurring theme on these forums, conclusions drawn on insufficient information, experience and hearsay. If an owner of a particular technology/component suggests that it is fine performer and expresses satisfaction with it, then it can be considered an opinion and nothing more. When such person claims that a particular technology/component provides better performance yet has no experience with something else that is the subject of contention, and at the same time does not have any technical data or knowledge to substantiate such claims, then such claims are completely baseless from both subjective and objective perspective.

[werd]

Agreed!

My BAT preamp does not have RCA, it has adjustable gain on all the inputs + 6x 6H30 super tube in dual mono configuration.  They are simply icing on the cup cake.   

I am sure Bryston can do it.  However, it costs money to implement.  Anyone wants a Bryston 26 pre to cost twice as much?

Hi

I think you can get one custom. Get the gain at about 9db maybe. On that BAT do you know what the variable gain is set at. Does the adjusted setting appear anywhere stating where it's at?

[Levi]

Hi

I think you can get one custom. Get the gain at about 9db maybe. On that BAT do you know what the variable gain is set at. Does the adjusted setting appear anywhere stating where it's at?

On the BAT, you can adjust the gain in fine increments.  However, in my 51SE they recommend to set the UNITY GAIN programming to: (CNTS)106counts or (dB)00.0 dB or (DBU) -0.17dB.  I would check the manual. 
 

[werd]

On the BAT, you can adjust the gain in fine increments.  However, in my 51SE they recommend to set the UNITY GAIN programming to: (CNTS)106counts or (dB)00.0 dB or (DBU) -0.17dB.  I would check the manual.

Thats sounds awesome. Bat pre amps are pretty cool. Do you find yourself adjusting the gain often through selection of tunes or genres?

[Levi]

You set it and forget it. The feature I like the most is being able to adjust the gain for each input.  This way, volume is similar when switching across different sources.

[Diamond Dog]

In all the posts here that claim unbalanced operation is better I do not see that anyone has compared balanced and unbalanced connectivity performance on the same device, only that a device featuring unbalanced connectivity was used with satisfying result, which cannot be the base for conclusion that unbalanced operation is better, I think anyone can see through this false logic.
Claims from some manufacturers that the decision to go with unbalanced connectivity only was based purely on performance due to simplicity is very questionable, it has more to do with keeping the cost down than anything else and again cannot be the base for conclusion that unbalanced operation is better.
There are many manufacturers beside Bryston that provide both balanced and unbalanced connectivity, and many of them are not of professional heritage, yet I do not know of a single one that claims balanced is not the better performer.
This is a recurring theme on these forums, conclusions drawn on insufficient information, experience and hearsay. If an owner of a particular technology/component suggests that it is fine performer and expresses satisfaction with it, then it can be considered an opinion and nothing more. When such person claims that a particular technology/component provides better performance yet has no experience with something else that is the subject of contention, and at the same time does not have any technical data or knowledge to substantiate such claims, then such claims are completely baseless from both subjective and objective perspective.

Feel better?

D.D.

[Diamond Dog]

You set it and forget it. The feature I like the most is being able to adjust the gain for each input.  This way, volume is similar when switching across different sources.

Beautiful pre, Levi. I can't help but think that there is a sizable contingent of AC'er who would not be able to "set it & forget it."

D.D.

[Sasha]

Feel better?

D.D.

What is your problem?