best tube preamp for about $500

avta · « **Reply #20 on:** 16 Jun 2006, 02:01 pm »

Steve:
Did you ever speak with anyone at Norh about that? I've not run into the problem.
Guy

steve k · « **Reply #21 on:** 16 Jun 2006, 05:15 pm »

Yes, I spoke to Micheal Barnes several times about it. He kept deferring the issue to Yuths. Yuths never responded so I contacted Namphung. Namphung contacted their supplier who thought it was a bad relay (which controls the soft start circuit). They sent me a new one which took me about 2 hours to install and it didn't make any difference.

They never offered once to take the unit back under warranty and fix it so I got fed up and demanded my money back. Namphung was the only person there that did anything to help me and she agreed to ship it back on their UPS account and arranged a refund. I was pretty disappointed wtih the lack of warranty service to be quite honest about it. If the unit is designed to only work with one or two tube brands, they should state this in the product info IMO.

From what I've heard from others here and my friend, it seems to be a design issue not a defect issue. I'm moving on to building a Mapletree 5B Octal. If you're not hearing noise when you roll tubes, that is great.
steve

avta · « **Reply #22 on:** 17 Jun 2006, 03:24 pm »

Steve
Sorry for the annoyance. Hope you enjoy the new unit when you're done.
Your comments and experience will definately have an effect on my opinion of the company and their products.
Guy

chadh · « **Reply #23 on:** 17 Jun 2006, 10:30 pm »

This was just recently posted to audiogon:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1155765770

I was tempted by the AES AE-3 when I was searching. And this looks like a good price. (I have no affiliation with the seller, nor manufacturer)

Chad

steve k · « **Reply #24 on:** 17 Jun 2006, 11:34 pm »

This may be a little more than your price point but this is an excellent sounding preamp. I know John Hillig personally and I've heard these preamps. This is a steal at this price. Had it come along before I ordered my Mapletree kit, I'd have snatched it up. No affiliation with the seller.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=28705

steve

lcrim · « **Reply #25 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 11:20 am »

I have had the AE-3 for at least several years and currently it has replaced a (George) Wright Sound WPL 11 line & phono in my bedroom system. The Wright didn't have the gain available w/o the addition of a head amp to work w/ MC.
Mine was factory built and has the additional output which is handy to drive a sub. It is possible to build the kit version for a bit less but the upcharge for factory construction was so small as to be a no brainer to me. With some tube rolling you get the big, warm octal sound for a reasonable price in a dead quiet tube preamp. I added the Jolida JD-9
phono stage which of course is another box but so far the system is very pleasing.

JLM · « **Reply #26 on:** 18 Jun 2006, 03:56 pm »

6SN7 or 6SL7 pre-amps can start out cheap, but the cost of tube replacements or rolling will quickly push up the price.

Something like a Mapletree 12SN7 based designs should be comparable for much lower life-cycle cost.

If you want faster, more neutral sound with less tube warmth/bloom the 12AX7/12AU7 / 6DJ8 / 6922 tube types are cheaper to replace/roll.