I don't have a ton of comparable or higher end pre-amps to compare it to, but I love the thing. I've rolled a few tubes through and settled on some nos 6922 Siemens. The amperex I had prior were a bit warmer to my ears, but the Siemens are detailed and musical. The stock EH's it came with are decent too....until you hear it with better tubes. I also love that you can load the cart right from the top of the unit, and my god a difference it can make it sound. It was right in my budget and I'd happily choose this pre again over others. congrats on your purchase
I'm always checking my local Craigslist and prices seem to have gotten a bit out of control. I'm not even looking to "match" my Sansui's WPC, just get something older and in nice shape. Regardless of model, 60-70's Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui are $300-350 minimum. The bigger, more coveted WPC ones are start around $600. *Ex. I just looked this AM, asking prices of first couple I saw: Pioneer SX-9000 for $500. Kenwood KA-7002, $350. 3 Sansui 9090 DBs, $800, $900, $1050
Have a pair of Marantz MA-5 monoblocks so now I'm searching for a 240v Marantz SC-6 or 9 to go with them.
Does Craigslist have better listing for vintage audio gears than eBay? I have never used Craigslist ...
I think a lot has to do with location. eBay has way more diversity because of the global factor but you pay for it. I wouldn't say CL is better than eBay but it's certainly worth checking out. And you get the benefit of testing and checking stuff out beforehand. I always try to sell my stuff on CL first, especially this kind of stuff because I don't want to go through the hassle of packing up and shipping. CL can be pretty limited, its mostly just the same couple of people selling stuff and for whatever reason brand diversity seems to be limited. Like, there is rarely any vintage Yamaha on my CL and if there is, it's usually in Wisconsin. But there's consistently a good selection of Pioneer, Sansui and Marantz. Were there no Yamaha dealers in Chicago back in the day? I have no idea but I find it odd.
It is indeed strange that you do not find any vintage Yamaha gears on your local CL - the greater Chicago. But then southern Wisconsin is not really that far away. I visited Rockford, IL many times back in the mid to late 80's but unfortunately never crossed the stateline into Wisconsin ...
Vintage Sansui AU-X1 integrated, the most expensive Sansui integrated in 1979 with a total impressive lineup of 14 integrated's ...
I gave a Luxman c120a preamp that has just gone funky. I will probably put it in Craigslist to give away. My trusty NAD 320BEE is now serving preamp duty.
I own 2 vintage preamps: Meridian 101 Control Amp/105 Power amps Minimalistic design. Volume control has two rings. One for the level and another ring for balance avoiding two separate knobs plus on/off switch. Inputs are also limited. Meridian 101/105 in situ. I was also running a vintage cartridge. ( Sumiko Andante ) Also I use a Naim NAC52. This preamp came with a set of self adhesive label where you can stick on the inputs you want on the front panel as well as for the remote. Quaint!
Haven't seen such volume control in some times. IIRC, it used to be much more prevalent back in the day when audio gears had better build quality ...
Has Mark Levinson ML1 preamp been mentioned? A total antithesis to knob infested Japanese hifi. This was very minimal in design and I see it's still fetching pretty good price on ebay for one. You get an input selector, monitor switch/two balance knobs ( I reckon this was a dual mono design ), stereo/mono switch, gain switch and volume control. I've never heard one.
This one I just picked up off of eBay. Love it and actually enjoying the flexibility of tone controls and the meatiness of the Loudness button .