[guest1632]

Hi all,

Well, I posted something similar here, but let me reduce this down to brands and such.

I am considering to buy one of the following and thought I'd ask for thoughts on any of the following:

Symphony 2 and symphony Plus from Ys-audio
Extended Foreplay III from Bottlehead
Grounded Grid Transcendentsound
DIYhifisupply's preamp
AE3 from Upscale Audio Either version.
Maybe, the Juicy Music Updated peach

I chose these pieces because the output impedances are below 800 ohms, and they are at or below a grand.

The reason for these choices is that I can set up the SKA feedback circuit to like the specific impedance of the preamp I am choosing to buy.

So any thoughts are welcome. If you are a commercial vendor, then just email me directly.

raybronk@comcast.net

That way, no rules will be violated.

Thanks much for your feedback and help. Again, if you have one I can borrow for a week or so, that would help in my decissionmaking.

Regards, and happy listening,
Ray Bronk

[JimJ]

I haven't had listening time with all of those listed, but Bottlehead gear has never done me wrong

[guest1632]

I haven't had listening time with all of those listed, but Bottlehead gear has never done me wrong

Hi Jim J,

So you have this Foreplay III?

Ray

[JimJ]

No, but I've heard a couple FP 2's...owned one for a little while and heard a few others.

I ended up with the ARC SP9-MKII I have now just because of the deal I got on it and it has a decent phono preamp built in, which I really couldn't say no to 

[guest1632]

No, but I've heard a couple FP 2's...owned one for a little while and heard a few others.

I ended up with the ARC SP9-MKII I have now just because of the deal I got on it and it has a decent phono preamp built in, which I really couldn't say no to 
 

Hi Jim J,

That sounds nice. Thanks for the info.

Ray

[Quiet Earth]

I love my DIYhifi Django TVC. I don't know if that is the one you are referring to though. Mine is the older unit with S&B transformers and the wooden face plate. I see that they have improved the casework and added remote control now . . . . . . . .oooooooh.  Must  -   control      -        credit card.........     must      -       not        -           upgrade . . . . . . yet! 


Seriously though, if you have enough system gain and semi-efficient speakers, you ought to consider a passive transformer volume control. You will hear so much detail and character revealed when you eliminate the unnecessary circuitry of an active preamp. I know guys that have active preamps with 10 dB pads on the inputs and they still have their volume control at 8 or 9 o'clock ------------------- and it's loud! I don't get it. On the other hand, there are those systems that need a preamp with a lot of gain or the whole thing falls apart. I understand that.


Candidates for a passive TVC would be those that have some or all of these conditions :

1. You listen mostly to music from of a CD player (or DAC), or other strong line level device such as tuner. If you do listen to vinyl, you have a robust stand alone phono stage.
2. You usually find yourself with the volume control just barely up and the music is already very loud
3. Your amp puts out full power with 1V input (or less)
4. You have speakers that are reasonably efficient
5. All of your equipment is close together and you don't need long interconnects. (1 meter max from source to TVC, up to 2 meters from TVC to amp(s).

Don't know if that helps with your question but I had fun writing it. 

[guest1632]

I love my DIYhifi Django TVC. I don't know if that is the one you are referring to though. Mine is the older unit with S&B transformers and the wooden face plate. I see that they have improved the casework and added remote control now . . . . . . . .oooooooh.  Must  -   control      -        credit card.........     must      -       not        -           upgrade . . . . . . yet! 


Seriously though, if you have enough system gain and semi-efficient speakers, you ought to consider a passive transformer volume control. You will hear so much detail and character revealed when you eliminate the unnecessary circuitry of an active preamp. I know guys that have active preamps with 10 dB pads on the inputs and they still have their volume control at 8 or 9 o'clock ------------------- and it's loud! I don't get it. On the other hand, there are those systems that need a preamp with a lot of gain or the whole thing falls apart. I understand that.


Candidates for a passive TVC would be those that have some or all of these conditions :

1. You listen mostly to music from of a CD player (or DAC), or other strong line level device such as tuner. If you do listen to vinyl, you have a robust stand alone phono stage.
2. You usually find yourself with the volume control just barely up and the music is already very loud
3. Your amp puts out full power with 1V input (or less)
4. You have speakers that are reasonably efficient
5. All of your equipment is close together and you don't need long interconnects. (1 meter max from source to TVC, up to 2 meters from TVC to amp(s).

Don't know if that helps with your question but I had fun writing it. 

Hi, At present I have a Promitheusaudio TVC. I'm just looking at the tube preamp thing because for some reason, gotta turn the volume up to about 2 o'clock which is louder than I want to really enjoy the music. This could be a speaker issue. plus, my amp has a feedback circuit where it likes to see a certain range of impedances. So that'st what up.

The newer django might be an improvement over what I have now.

Ray

[JLM]

Quiet,

I'm with you on the passive route.  But there is one more factor to consider before going passive.  That's impedance matching.  High output impedance (much north of 1,000 ohms) from sources need taming in order to get the best bass and an overall open sound.

Several well respected integrated amps are nothing more than power amps with volume control and source switching added.  And vendors like Dusty Vawter from Channel Islands Audio primarily sells passive for all these reasons.

All this assumes that we're speaking of someone who wants fidelity to the recording, not colored/favored sound that tube lovers especially are fond of.

[guest1632]

Quiet,

I'm with you on the passive route.  But there is one more factor to consider before going passive.  That's impedance matching.  High output impedance (much north of 1,000 ohms) from sources need taming in order to get the best bass and an overall open sound.

Several well respected integrated amps are nothing more than power amps with volume control and source switching added.  And vendors like Dusty Vawter from Channel Islands Audio primarily sells passive for all these reasons.

All this assumes that we're speaking of someone who wants fidelity to the recording, not colored/favored sound that tube lovers especially are fond of.

heheh. Well, there are line stages out there that aren't colored. The 11A from SAS Labs is one of them. Theoretically, if you design a tube stage and a SS stage properly, there will be hardly any difference. So meanwhile, I'll just be looking around a bit more.

Ray

[Quiet Earth]

..... there is one more factor to consider before going passive.  That's impedance matching.  High output impedance (much north of 1,000 ohms) from sources need taming in order to get the best bass and an overall open sound.

While it is true that we should be mindful of input/output impedance relationships, I don't know if declaring a limiting number is really all that helpful for people who might consider a TVC. For example, my AN tube DAC has an output impedance of about 1500 ohms. Many would say that it should not perform well with a TVC. It sounds terrific and has plenty of bass. Rarely can I get the volume control up anywhere near the -14 db attenuation level, where the impedances start to become an issue. The same goes with my phono stage, a tube unit, although I have no idea what the output impedance of that is. I would suspect it is near the 1000 to 1500 ohm range as well.

I guess that's why I wanted to leave a number out for impedance matching. I thought it would be more helpful to describe the conditions of your active preamp when listening to music at normal levels. But, you are technically correct to be aware of the input/output impedance relationship. It should be considered.

[Quiet Earth]

I'm just looking at the tube preamp thing because for some reason, gotta turn the volume up to about 2 o'clock which is louder than I want to really enjoy the music. This could be a speaker issue. plus, my amp has a feedback circuit where it likes to see a certain range of impedances.

You're right Ray, maybe your present set up does not have the gain structure for a passive pre amp. I don't know what your amp and speakers are, but it sounds like one or the other may not be very sensitive. Maybe if you list them in a reply you can get more specific help.

For what it's worth, my amplifier puts out full power with only 0.25 volts in. That is very sensitive. In other words there is a lot of gain in the amplifier. Also, my speakers are fairly efficient too. 94dB with 1 watt, and a 6 ohm load. It doesn't take much get the amp and speaker going. That's why passive works so well for me, even though my sources are tube output.