Tube pre w remote

[olds1959special]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195990854329?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=MFakcJXUQJu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=UaUkBnVTQLu&var=495855724023&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Boom Boom]

I thought we weren't allowed to advertise in this forum???

[olds1959special]

6 minutes ago, Boom Boom said:

I thought we weren't allowed to advertise in this forum???

Not advertising, sorry I should have clarified. Just wondering if this might be any good?

[Richard Vandersteen]

2 hours ago, olds1959special said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195990854329?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=MFakcJXUQJu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=UaUkBnVTQLu&var=495855724023&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I don't know what your motives are, but this kind of stuff possibly made with child labor in third world conditions is not worth what this site costs to operate and of very little interest for most forum participants, IMO!   Thank You.  RV

[olds1959special]

14 hours ago, Richard Vandersteen said:

I don't know what your motives are, but this kind of stuff possibly made with child labor in third world conditions is not worth what this site costs to operate and of very little interest for most forum participants, IMO!   Thank You.  RV

My motives are to spend less money, but you bring up good points.

[Holmz]

5 hours ago, olds1959special said:

My motives are to spend less money, but you bring up good points.

As a personal anecdote, I found it to be easier to change my approach more towards “only spend once.”
A lot of the stuff takes a 50-60% hit just exiting the shop, and on the inexpensive end, that is more severe, and one can hardly even give it away.

Used gear already has the brunt of the depreciation incurred, and at least it is more like a rental or lease option
And it also align with more of the general interest here that RV mentioned… evidenced by a few people having mentioned Arye, Bryson etc...  going up alphabetically.
One of the problems is that it takes time to find that stuff.

I sort of failed at “buy only once”, as the 2Cs I got in ‘84 were sold a year or two ago. 😉

[Boom Boom]

11 hours ago, olds1959special said:

My motives are to spend less money, but you bring up good points.

In my experience, paying the money for meaningful upgrades, especially in preamps, has made me a very satisfied Vandersteen owner. It personally would drive me nuts chasing after possible incremental gains in searching cheap gear. Before spending more money on preamps I prefer to listen to them extensively before making a buying decision. Enjoying really good sound reproduction in both audio and video is where I  love to spend my time.  Some audiophiles love the chase and researching gear. I find some amusement in reading some of the hype in forums (I don't belong to) about the latest cheap highly reviewed piece, only to find a year or two if that, they fall out of favor and are unloaded at steep discounts. That said, to know ownership is to live with obsolescence.  So long as I buy smart, that fact doesn't phase me. Build quality and parts availability become much more important to me as an owner. Some of the older then cutting edge gear is not serviceable as parts are no longer available. They become expensive paper weights.

Enjoy the hunt my friend. Let us know how it goes. I must admit it is a thrill to get great gains without spending too much.  😅

[olds1959special]

I ended up skipping these tube pre amps. They have a whole bunch of very inexpensive copies of amps like ARC, Conrad Johnson, Cary, Pass, Marantz, etc. with remote controls. Even some of the reviews look positive. But when I realized I could get a vintage American made Audible Illusions Modulus 2 for just a little bit more that’s what I did. It has the features I need like two sets of outputs, and the dual volume controls won’t bother me much since I plan to set the level on the high side and then reduce the volume as needed with the digital DAC volume control (which has a remote with mute button.) Maybe not ideal but hopefully will sound good anyway - especially since I will try to find a good setting allowing me not to lose too many bits.

Edited September 23 by olds1959special

[Holmz]

2 hours ago, olds1959special said:

I ended up skipping these tube pre amps. They have a whole bunch of very inexpensive copies of amps like ARC, Conrad Johnson, Cary, Pass, Marantz, etc. with remote controls. Even some of the reviews look positive. But when I realized I could get a vintage American made Audible Illusions Modulus 2 for just a little bit more that’s what I did. It has the features I need like two sets of outputs, and the dual volume controls won’t bother me much since I plan to set the level on the high side and then reduce the volume as needed with the digital DAC volume control (which has a remote with mute button.) Maybe not ideal but hopefully will sound good anyway - especially since I will try to find a good setting allowing me not to lose too many bits.

Well - I’ll watch this space.
I suspect that you will be using the volume control more that you think at the moment.

[olds1959special]

23 minutes ago, Holmz said:

Well - I’ll watch this space.
I suspect that you will be using the volume control more that you think at the moment.

it could get annoying trying to match levels with the dual volume controls. At least, if it had stepped attenuators it would be better. But I believe mine is the older one without those.

[olds1959special]

On 9/23/2024 at 6:37 PM, Holmz said:

Well - I’ll watch this space.
I suspect that you will be using the volume control more that you think at the moment.

It ended up seeming to work best with the volume knobs set to 9 o clock, then adjusting volume with my dac remote.