Waiting on my new Audible Illusions M3B preamp

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Sam, Jul 30, 2013.

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  1. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    i waited till my late 40's to get married......it was worth it......i think i can wait for a preamp. lol
     
    Sugar Man, The FRiNgE and chili555 like this.
  2. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    ernie..how's it going?..did you get up from your listening chair yet? lol
     
  3. Ernie Adams

    Ernie Adams Well-Known Member

    Sorry it took so long to respond. Yes, got the preamp. All I can say is WOW!!! Definite improvement. I really like the feel of the way the knobs work compared to my 3A. Smoother and more solid. The color of the lights is a nice blue now also. But it's the sound that is so amazing. Worth the wait.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  4. J-Dub

    J-Dub Old School Rocker

    Location:
    USA
  5. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    good to hear. enjoy! i am still waiting for mine. it's been a couple of months. to make matters worse,i believe his shop was probably hit by hurricane irma . so, who knows? i might never get mine. hope mr ferris and family and crew are ok.
     
  6. Ernie Adams

    Ernie Adams Well-Known Member

    Give Jerry a call. See if they are up and running. If so, start to bug the a lie. After 2 months I bugged him almost weekly. I'm sure he got tired of it, but I got my preamp.
     
  7. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    yes thanks.. i will give them some time to regroup ..then call
     
  8. GAR

    GAR Member

    Sam, are you still using this with a Krell amp. Which model?
     
  9. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Krell KSA 100. Fully refurbished by Krell 2 years ago.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  10. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    I wonder if the Factory Tour is still relevant? If so, the slow receipt of everyone's preamp must be due to "Steve". So, blame "Steve"...!
     
  11. Ernie Adams

    Ernie Adams Well-Known Member

    Mine us just sounding better and better. I'm guessing it has now had the time to burn in, along with my switching the dip switches off as AI suggests. Partnered with my Pass Labs X250, it is a very nice combination.
     
  12. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    hi..are you guys using the phono stage?...mine is a lot lower in volume/dynmics than other inputs. should i explore an external phono preamp?
     
  13. PMC7027

    PMC7027 Forum Hall Of Fame

    With my AI Modulus 3B I need to turn the volume up about 3 "clicks" higher when listening to LPs through the phono input than when listening to CD through the Aux input. That is to be expected because the level of the signal coming in to the preamp from the phono cartridge is significantly lower than coming from the CD player.

    I'm using a MM (moving magnet) cartridge. Are you? If you have a MC (Moving Coil) cartridge you'd need the optional MC phono board for the Modulus 3B.

    Either way, you should not look into an external phono preamp. The Audible Illusions Modulus 3 (A and B) are known for their excellent phono stage.
     
    chili555 likes this.
  14. chili555

    chili555 Forum Resident

    Plus one thousand.

    I can't comment on the relative levels using a MM cartridge. I use a MC and a transformer-based step-up. It sounds lovely and I couldn't imagine wanting a different phono preamp simply based on the relative levels.
     
  15. michael paul

    michael paul Member

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    hey guys, thanks for the comments...yeah i am using a sumiko bluepoint 2 mc 2.5 mv...

    absolutly, it sounds good when i turn it up........just wanted to make sure........i would imagine if i used a 5mv mm cart i probably wouldnt have to turn it up as much. ...everything is relative i guess...

    anyways...this preamp is just mindbending...i sit there in amazement
     
  16. Ernie Adams

    Ernie Adams Well-Known Member

    I know this thread is old, but I thought I would give an update on my preamp and service by Audible Illusions. First the preamp is amazing. Sound is off the charts. With that said, AI is really starting to have some problems IMHO. I decided back in June to order a new set of tubes to have on hand. I know AI preamps can go through tubes and I have used my preamp a little over a year. I wanted to make sure I was all set. Well fast forward to 9/10 and I still don't have my tubes. Repeated calls to Audible Illusions have given repeated excuses. I was told when I ordered the tubes that they were in stock and had to be matched for my preamp, and I would have the tubes in about a week. 3 months later, NO TUBES. Last call was this morning, after I was told on thursday of last week the tubes would be sent out. Was told they did not know if the tubes had gone out and I would have to call back. So......as it now stands, AI makes amazing stuff. They are absolutely HORRIBLE in their service, and you can 100% know that whatever they tell you is not true. So sad, because the product is so incredible.
     
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  17. arcamsono

    arcamsono Senior Member

    Location:
    MN
    Never heard anything from them. But it's a good company that has more stood the test of time
     
  18. arcamsono

    arcamsono Senior Member

    Location:
    MN
    They never heard of tracking numbers????? To at least show they went out.
     
  19. chili555

    chili555 Forum Resident

  20. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    I am going through the same stuff with Jerry. I called back in March and ordered tubes and told they would be on the way. Ha ha. I called several more times and expressed my frustration. Jerry told me that they are waiting on a shipment of the 6h23EB tubes. He wanted to offer me other tubes, but nothing doing. I love the sound I'm getting with the 6h23's. Maybe I'll try that link above for Galen Carol Audio.
     
  21. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    I reached out to Galen Carol audio, and he also is out of the 6h23EB tubes. He directed me to thetubestore.com website. I found the tubes there and ordered them today.
     
  22. googlymoogly

    googlymoogly Forum Resident

    I agree with this - their customer service is spotty at best, and at worst, they will ignore you. The AI preamp is very good indeed, but when I needed a repair done to mine, I opted to go elsewhere. Follow-up calls and emails never prompted them to let me know how to proceed to ship to them, or how long such a repair might take. A poster I corresponded with on another forum told me he had been waiting for over 6 months for AI to get a warranty repair done, and he couldn't get an ETA from them.
     
  23. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Jerry has been picking up the phone each time I call, so at least I'm able to speak with someone. They need to hire a few more people. Such a great product. I guess when you have an AI product, you truly have a hand built piece of equipment that "Pops" was just working on. I can picture it now--"Hey, we have an order." Then a white haired bearded man stretches, places his pipe in his mouth, and begins to assemble the next preamp.
     
    googlymoogly likes this.
  24. googlymoogly

    googlymoogly Forum Resident

    I wasn't willing to hand anything over to them, with no assurance that they would make the repair in anything like a timely manner. I agree, great product, but the company is really, um, a bit eccentric and lax when it comes to dates and times, particularly on repairs.
     
  25. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    I don't blame you. When I bought my new M3B, I told Art I'm not sending in my old one UNTIL I receive the new one. He'd have to trust me on sending it in, which I did once I received the new one. So who did you get to do the repairs?
     
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