All, as I have been drawing quite some interesting information from this forum I would like to return and share some experience while looking for a preamp upgrade;
Old system configuration;
Source: Weiss Jason 24/176 -> Grimm CC1 reclocker 24/176 -> Weiss Medea (upgraded to accept 24/176 signal single wired)
Preamp: Art & Technologie (artec) Prestige
Amps: Lamm 1.2 Reference
LS: Focus Audio Master 2.5
Current conditioner: Gigawatt PC 4EVO
Cabling: Analysis Plus golden oval throughout (interconnect and ls), power is a mix of Transparent, Argento Audio and Kubala.
I listen primarily to classical music, ranging from the soloist to the big organ and symphonic works.
I have a dedicated, small (4.2 x 5.4 x 2.4 metres) and well-treated room and have gone at length in loudspeaker positioning and applying the different treatments.
Problems;
In the above system the highs were too bright, causing listener fatigue + only rarely did I have a bass experience that I felt was somehow realistic + timbral accuracy (due to the brightness) was not very convincing.
Very good things the Prestige preamp does very well on all occasions; fantastic soundstaging, focus, balanced spectrum, hugely transparent.
I got to the conclusion (how I got there is another story ?) that my ss preamp was actually not a good match in my system (It had become too transparent if you want, the balance between warmth/ambiance and detail/focus was lost) and either I needed to change other elements of the system or the preamp so I went for the latter solution.
Now finding a replacement of that preamp was not easy, which says enough about the intrinsic qualities of that preamp.
Tests;
Krell EVO 202; quite ‘dead’ sounding IMO, very ss-like, needs to be partnered with another piece of equipment that lightens it up and clearly the rest of my equipment was not part of that. I had heard with good vinyl before and that certainly lightened it up but I am not a vinyl person.
Lamm L2 reference; very nice with sweet highs, good bass, very engaging but features only single ended connections and single ended means (mostly) loss of detail and (hence) less 3D-imaging. I wasn’t willing to agree with those drawbacks.
Audio Research Reference 5; excellent preamp as well but… throws a soundstage which is so wide that I wanted to lift my canapé and move it at least two metres to the back, if my wall wasn’t there ?. This was still so when I changed my loudspeaker toe-in and position. So couldn’t live with that neither although it is clearly one of the top three preamps I heard albeit the one with the weakest bass and focus and a too forward midrange but with sweet high! A cello became two metres wide suddenly.. The SE version must be quite stellar but I wasn’t able to audition that one.
VAC Signature Mk2; At first hearing, this excellent preamp was a replica of my artec prestige but doing everything better. Exactly what I was looking for. At first I was listening a lot to it, more often because I was amazed by the quality of the bass and 3D soundstaging and focus (this unit had by far the best of all three attributes of all preamps tested) with a good timbral accuracy so I continually discovered new things and listening to a tight and very low bass is addictive. But I eventually felt disconnected from the musical message; I was hearing too much the instruments, not the symphony(c orchestra). Probably an ideal preamp for those that have a larger room where the recomposition of the orchestra is more natural as the listening distance increases. It certainly gave the impression that my amp’s power was considerably pumped up but in a very controlled way.
Jeff Rowland Criterion; Very good preamp as well, must be a very good match with tube amplifiers (or JR’s own amps which are said to be on the warm/dark side) but not with my system although the whole musical message was conveyed very convincingly with good bass, transparent midband, extended (not bright) high.
Brinkmann Marconi; decent preamp but clearly not in the league of what I was looking for.
Weiss Medea as a preamp; if I hadn’t tested the Zanden 3000, I would have stayed and could have well lived with ‘just’ the Medea as a DAC/preamp, it is that good. I considered upgrading to the Medea+ (with output volume control) but that has become very expensive (close to 6.000 EUR) nowadays and I wasn’t sure it was going to equal or better the Zanden and as the latter opportunity came along, I seized it. In direct comparison Medea/Zanden the latter of course has the edge with timbral accuracy and tighter and slightly lower bass. If the Medea were equipped with a separate top notch power supply then it would be another story I guess.
Zanden 3000; well I think I hardly need to say too much about it as, reading what I wrote above, you probably will have a pretty accurate idea of its virtues by now ?. I bought it.
Important remark; except for the VAC, no preamp has been able to give me the lower register restitution as I was looking for until, upon the suggestion of a dealer who came at my home, I started (again ?) to reposition my speakers putting them considerably closer to the back wall (moving about 50 cms backward!) and suddenly the image in the lows was where I wanted it! With my old preamp it was not convincing (and highs still too bright) enough but with the Zanden, which is far better in control across the spectrum, I have now been able to make a quantum leap in reproduction.
Moving the speakers back so far obviously means a loss in soundstage depth but again there the Zanden compensates enough so I am not missing out on that neither.
Conclusions;
I was positively surprised I had to go through so much effort before finding a clear winner preamp replacement which is testimony to the quality of my previous French preamp! If you have a slightly (too) euphonic system already or just want a tighter (ss-like) image combined with extremely good soundstaging, focus and pace , then this is the preamp to beat (in the 9.000 EUR price range). Preamp is btw still up for sale for a mere 3500 EUR ?
It is confirmed again that acoustics quality and loudspeaker positioning is a very very important element that makes up half the quality of your system!!
Half the quality of a preamp is defined in the quality of the power supply!
Don’t hasten your conclusion if you think it is a positive one, prolonged listening is imperative. If you don’t like it from the very first notes, very unlikely you will start to like it later though…
Patience is a big virtue which probably most of you (nor I ) don’t have.
Old system configuration;
Source: Weiss Jason 24/176 -> Grimm CC1 reclocker 24/176 -> Weiss Medea (upgraded to accept 24/176 signal single wired)
Preamp: Art & Technologie (artec) Prestige
Amps: Lamm 1.2 Reference
LS: Focus Audio Master 2.5
Current conditioner: Gigawatt PC 4EVO
Cabling: Analysis Plus golden oval throughout (interconnect and ls), power is a mix of Transparent, Argento Audio and Kubala.
I listen primarily to classical music, ranging from the soloist to the big organ and symphonic works.
I have a dedicated, small (4.2 x 5.4 x 2.4 metres) and well-treated room and have gone at length in loudspeaker positioning and applying the different treatments.
Problems;
In the above system the highs were too bright, causing listener fatigue + only rarely did I have a bass experience that I felt was somehow realistic + timbral accuracy (due to the brightness) was not very convincing.
Very good things the Prestige preamp does very well on all occasions; fantastic soundstaging, focus, balanced spectrum, hugely transparent.
I got to the conclusion (how I got there is another story ?) that my ss preamp was actually not a good match in my system (It had become too transparent if you want, the balance between warmth/ambiance and detail/focus was lost) and either I needed to change other elements of the system or the preamp so I went for the latter solution.
Now finding a replacement of that preamp was not easy, which says enough about the intrinsic qualities of that preamp.
Tests;
Krell EVO 202; quite ‘dead’ sounding IMO, very ss-like, needs to be partnered with another piece of equipment that lightens it up and clearly the rest of my equipment was not part of that. I had heard with good vinyl before and that certainly lightened it up but I am not a vinyl person.
Lamm L2 reference; very nice with sweet highs, good bass, very engaging but features only single ended connections and single ended means (mostly) loss of detail and (hence) less 3D-imaging. I wasn’t willing to agree with those drawbacks.
Audio Research Reference 5; excellent preamp as well but… throws a soundstage which is so wide that I wanted to lift my canapé and move it at least two metres to the back, if my wall wasn’t there ?. This was still so when I changed my loudspeaker toe-in and position. So couldn’t live with that neither although it is clearly one of the top three preamps I heard albeit the one with the weakest bass and focus and a too forward midrange but with sweet high! A cello became two metres wide suddenly.. The SE version must be quite stellar but I wasn’t able to audition that one.
VAC Signature Mk2; At first hearing, this excellent preamp was a replica of my artec prestige but doing everything better. Exactly what I was looking for. At first I was listening a lot to it, more often because I was amazed by the quality of the bass and 3D soundstaging and focus (this unit had by far the best of all three attributes of all preamps tested) with a good timbral accuracy so I continually discovered new things and listening to a tight and very low bass is addictive. But I eventually felt disconnected from the musical message; I was hearing too much the instruments, not the symphony(c orchestra). Probably an ideal preamp for those that have a larger room where the recomposition of the orchestra is more natural as the listening distance increases. It certainly gave the impression that my amp’s power was considerably pumped up but in a very controlled way.
Jeff Rowland Criterion; Very good preamp as well, must be a very good match with tube amplifiers (or JR’s own amps which are said to be on the warm/dark side) but not with my system although the whole musical message was conveyed very convincingly with good bass, transparent midband, extended (not bright) high.
Brinkmann Marconi; decent preamp but clearly not in the league of what I was looking for.
Weiss Medea as a preamp; if I hadn’t tested the Zanden 3000, I would have stayed and could have well lived with ‘just’ the Medea as a DAC/preamp, it is that good. I considered upgrading to the Medea+ (with output volume control) but that has become very expensive (close to 6.000 EUR) nowadays and I wasn’t sure it was going to equal or better the Zanden and as the latter opportunity came along, I seized it. In direct comparison Medea/Zanden the latter of course has the edge with timbral accuracy and tighter and slightly lower bass. If the Medea were equipped with a separate top notch power supply then it would be another story I guess.
Zanden 3000; well I think I hardly need to say too much about it as, reading what I wrote above, you probably will have a pretty accurate idea of its virtues by now ?. I bought it.
Important remark; except for the VAC, no preamp has been able to give me the lower register restitution as I was looking for until, upon the suggestion of a dealer who came at my home, I started (again ?) to reposition my speakers putting them considerably closer to the back wall (moving about 50 cms backward!) and suddenly the image in the lows was where I wanted it! With my old preamp it was not convincing (and highs still too bright) enough but with the Zanden, which is far better in control across the spectrum, I have now been able to make a quantum leap in reproduction.
Moving the speakers back so far obviously means a loss in soundstage depth but again there the Zanden compensates enough so I am not missing out on that neither.
Conclusions;
I was positively surprised I had to go through so much effort before finding a clear winner preamp replacement which is testimony to the quality of my previous French preamp! If you have a slightly (too) euphonic system already or just want a tighter (ss-like) image combined with extremely good soundstaging, focus and pace , then this is the preamp to beat (in the 9.000 EUR price range). Preamp is btw still up for sale for a mere 3500 EUR ?
It is confirmed again that acoustics quality and loudspeaker positioning is a very very important element that makes up half the quality of your system!!
Half the quality of a preamp is defined in the quality of the power supply!
Don’t hasten your conclusion if you think it is a positive one, prolonged listening is imperative. If you don’t like it from the very first notes, very unlikely you will start to like it later though…
Patience is a big virtue which probably most of you (nor I ) don’t have.
