I just 2 Days ago received my first ever passive preamp and thought I'd write a very short summary of my first impressions.
A bit about my setup -
I use a NAS (network accessible storage) which have all my Music stored as FLAC files as my primary source.
In addition I have an old CD player as a secondary source.
Both of these are hooked up digitally (optical from the NAS and coaxial from the CD) to an Abrahamsen V6 DAC (Norwegian designer, same man who designed a lot of Electrocompaniet amplifiers).
The output from the DAC goes balanced to the LDR1BV25 and on to a modified Parasound HCA-3500 poweramp.
The speakers are PMC PB-1i, transmission lines.
Cables are mostly Blue Jeans.
Before the LDR1B I used an Electrocompaniet EC4.6 preamp.
After unpacking the preamp, I hooked it up and plugged it in, let it warm up for a few hours and went through the autocal procedure.
I have not yet changed any impedance settings, so that will be played with later
First impressions in sound -
What an experience! Truly the best sound I've ever heard in my system.
A layer of "mush" has disappeared and angry high S'es are now pleasant. More details and less harshness, especially in mid-upper-high range compared to the EC4.6.
It is absolutely marvellous at low levels, the pot-meters in other preamps I've had were all out of balance in the channels at extreme low volumes, now it's all in perfect balance from 1 through 99 with a beautiful room experience, width and depth in the music.
This is very important to me as I listen quite a bit to music at times when our children are sleeping
So for me this preamp has been a really upgrade for the system.
Thank you Morten for making a great Product!
If I should bring up something -
It would have been great if the Power supply had a european main leads supplied with it. I had to replace the US style plug.
Best regards,
Tor-Helge
