Maybe vintage preamps are NOT the way....

I understand!

Black cars are always fastest and even faster when freshly waxed – I’m convinced of that!

 

Hey Prix,

This is an early AVA Preamp with a phono section.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1116644329

It’s not black but it can be painted, the face plate is removable

 

I find that gold faceplates sound best when the lights are on, but the black faceplates are MUCH better when you turn the lights off.

 

It's ugly. My personal hi-fi gear must be fine art on two levels. It must sound wonderful and also look like $1,000,000.

I don't think I'm going to search for a new preamp. Tonight I was discussing this matter with my tech and we've decided to build our own. An industry friend of mine can help us with the chassis, face-plates, and ironing out any difficulties surrounding the circuit design and I will be evaluating these custom pieces as far as sonics are concerned.

Basically what we are talking about doing is taking classic preamps....such as the Fisher 400-CX2, Pilot 215, Scott 130, or Marantz 7C and ditching the tone controls but keeping the phono stage. My personal favorite would probably be the Fisher, so he is going to build a prototype. This is the only way I'll be able to have exactly what I want....and there will be no circuit board or junk caps/tubes inside.

In the meantime, I'll probably continue to dabble in '80s tube gear just to see if I run across anything special....but ONLY IF IT'S GOLD.

 

Bro, you should see my system in the dark. We have the red, gold, and green lights from the Fisher amp reflecting off the gold face...then we have the tubes illuminating the background....the circular music hall display is lit up and when there is an HDCD playing, the blue LED light is on. Plug in the lava lamp and the room is transformed into another dimension of sight and sound.

 

Wrong! Red cars go faster - proven fact. In the UK more redcars 'per capita' are booked for speeding

 

I haven't heard them myself but many swear that the Placette preamp is unequalled at any price point. Does anybody here own one?

No good for prix though becuase they are not that nice to look at.

 

You think you can build this for $500.00 or less?

 

Believe me! If I could afford to get the tube preamp I wanted, I would have it. I have tried my system with a McIntosh AV preamp, and a Parasound preamp. Both did not give me what I was looking for. I want tubes as much as the next guy!

 

Maybe. Maybe not. One of the cornerstones of my existence is living like a king on the beggar's budget. Over the years I've become pretty good at it.

 

I owned the passive version for a long time. Unequalled transparency in my experience, but also a bit tricky to match with other components due to impedence issues.

John K.

 

I have a Grover-modified Dynaco PAS-3, tone controls bypassed. I got the impression Grover would not have sold me a PAS-3 with tone controls. From some small research on the Internet I see this is a well documented mod.

 

mikel does.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/member.php?u=785

He has changed the Tenors to the darTZeel and has sold his Kharma Exquisites for the VS-9s. The Placette remains. Mike has posted that the Placette has not been bested - not just at the price point - but by all preamps he has auditioned.

 

Best of luck to you. I hope you can get something nice built at a reasonable price. Circuit components are not that expensive, but chassis, face-plate etc can really be dear.

 

I built a simple unity gain line stage from Tube DIY on audio asylum using a 6sn7 octal. My most expensive item was the gold plated RCA connectors. I had everything else in my junk drawer or traded from friends. You got to love those 1946 Tung Sols.

I know this doesn't help your phono section. I'm currently using a homebrewed sand phono section based 'loosely' on a Hafler design with Audio Amateur updates.

You can build a 'foreplay' enclosure or find a broken PAS3/PAT4/... enclosure and add a gold face plate. I only have three holes on the faceplate: power switch, input selection, volume.


rick

 

I am with you on this.

 

Prix, I am very upset with you and hold you in higher respect than the cheap comment you made here merits. Now before I go any further I want to make it clear that I am a huge c-j fan, check my profile to see how huge. Have you ever met Bill or Lew in person, if you had you would realize how wrong you are. Go to their website and learn. These guys are true audiophiles who left their chosen profession and learned circuit design to build the kind of products they personally wanted and then turned it into a business. Now while the PV-2 is newer than your Fisher gear it is vintage c-j gear. If you want to see how current c-j gear sound (musically revealing without being harsh or analytical) come out of the Land of the Lost to Pleasantville, NY and I will show you how it sounds. I cannot wait to get my first listen to c-j's new ACT-2 preamp. As far as high profit goes, have you ever seen the kind of component specs that go into c-j gear. Sorry for the rant, but you torched a hot button.

 

I thought he was joking

 

Geez, the man has a monster hifi system!

Goran

 

I agree. mikel has an amazing system. I stumbled across this link to pictures of it:

http://gallery.audioasylum.com/cgi/view.mpl?UserImages=4961&session=

 

Thanks, Geoff. I hope so as well. The chassis and face-plate are actually pretty easy for us.

 

Dude, no offense meant. My hot button was touched as well and that's why I posted the comment. I interpreted the crack about Fisher gear to be more of this "newer is better" nonsense and I replied accordingly. There are many vintage Fisher tube pieces that will compete with ANY modern "audiophile" pieces and you can take that to the bank. I challenge ANYONE to bring ANY amp to my place for some A/B tests. I guarantee I'll pull something out that will be just as good or better. I've done this time and time again. I could certainly have modern gear if I wanted to....it's just that I'd rather spend $500 to get the same performance for $4000.

Furthermore, I actually like the PV-2 preamp. It has some 'cheap' aspects to the sound and build quality, but I my tech and I are addressing those and also looking at mods. I am also looking at other CJ pieces because I like the general approach to their sound.....I'm just hoping I can find something a little more sophisticated than the pieces I've heard which are pretty much as I described above. However, I don't hate Conrad Johnson, my friend. Not by a long shot. I think their over-priced and overrated, but I think that about most everything.

 

Audio (prix), The statement about Fisher was not a "crack", but the simple truth. The c-j PV-2 is about two decades after your Fisher amp. There was no offense meant. I personally feel that within a given line of equipment that as long as there has not been some drastic change in ownership or management that newer gear is better. This does not mean that brand to brand newer is better. There is vintage Mac and Marantz gear that still holds its own today. c-j has been under the same ownership since day one, thus, it only makes sense that their newer stuff is built on their years of development and is the best that they have to offer. Do you see what I mean?

 

WOW This system makes mine look like I got it at a flea market.

 

ALP, I first want to say that I like you quite a bit. I genuinely think you're a good guy and I mean nothing personal by any of this. That said, we're going to have to get into it a little bit here because I'm going to call you on what I think is a pile of b.s. But first, let me ask you....just how much time have you spent comparing Conrad Johnson gear to various vintage pieces?