World class Preamps anyone?

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:02 am

One of my favorites is the DAV Electronics Broadhurst Gardens stuff: http://www.davelectronics.com/

The Millenia is nice as is the True System Precision 8. All very transparent...it's just a question of preference & budget. While the Millenia is considered "cream of the crop" in the audiophile/classical world, the DAV BG is a huge underground success and the True Systems Precision 8 gets very high praise.

HTH

Timeline · Post by **Timeline** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:17 am

Tok a look at that. Do you know the price range and construction info? I see it will produce +29 which is great.

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:21 am

Timeline wrote:Tok a look at that. Do you know the price range and construction info? I see it will produce +29 which is great.

I don't know what the pricing is these days with a weak dollar...but drop them a line - they are very helpful.

Construction is point to point wiring in a very sturdy chassis. Remember, these are intended for location work. They take well to abuse and keep on working.

FM · Post by FM » Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:44 am

late for the party as usual...

i really like the great river stuff... the Great River ME-1NV is really sweet.

it has a great range of "flavors" depending on how you use it.

around 1K price range.

peace!

FM

FM wouldn't even if you were last person on Earth.

lodstudios · Post by **lodstudios** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:07 pm

Have to jump in, my two cents and what not.

I was floored when I got my Millennia STT1, I had a fairly high budget when I was looking at pre's and I happily laid on the $2800 for this single channel.
Overall, I think Millennia is great for many reasons...Not many analog channels can be completely clean and flat and get down and dirty when you want it, it truly is a swiss army knife in my studio...can't say enough about it.

Timeline · Post by **Timeline** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:07 am

Don't forget the lowered price on them too. I stopped by GC today and asked about them. They had them in the computer but no info on pricing.

The list being $1700 I was hoping for even better pricing through them.

The Forssel jfet two channel is $1800. Quite a bit more and essentially the same specs ond OP headroom, +32. The package is very nice.

http://www.3daudioinc.com/3db/showthread.php?t=12162
Here is the thread that started me thinking about all of this.

lodstudios · Post by **lodstudios** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:12 am

Yeah, I work at GC and we don't stock them...all Millennia products are special order only, if the store has never sold one then they will have no pricing info.

Timeline · Post by **Timeline** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:34 am

I also checked for Forssel and they weren't even on the system anywhere.

Being "too boutique" limits distribution and doesn't really show all the products. The guys in the 3db discussions do orchestra recordings it appears. Truly cutting edge AFAIC. They set the performance and phase standards for these amps far beyond normal use for pop and rock so I don't think it's necessarily the most important factor for me although I would love to do a recording like that with just a few mics one day..

WHich state do you work in?

Here is a comment that says it all from the 3db thread:

Jim Dugger
Platinum Club Member (3000+)

Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 3,742
I draw my line in the sand and from time to time I'm known to have a strong opinion. This is one of those times.

There is no finer preamp than the Gordon.

That does not mean it's my only preamp. Or that it's always the best for everything. But, within the realm of colorless, and yet lively and satisfying musical capture, with no annoying "excessive ambience retrival", smearing of the image, splattering of the mid-highs, noise, or emphasis or loss in any part of the spectrum, there is simply no better made preamp than the Gordon.

Every other preamp in my collection I pick because of what it does to flatter or enhance the source. The Great River on guitars, the Crane Song on ribbons, the M2b on snare... and so on.

When the source is right just as it is... the first choice is Gordon.

I'm sure the Forssell is incredible -- I have his FetCode and I have nothing but praise for it -- but the Gordon blows me away every time I plug it in and every mic I use it with.

Swallow hard at the price, yes, but it's worth it.
__________________
Jim Dugger
Poorhouse Productions

JadeLatrell · Post by **JadeLatrell** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:26 pm

This is much more of a boutique type of preamp, but the Lachapell 992 is simply amazing. It is certainly colored because of the tubes, but man, is it sweet. The list of users is growing impressively. Brad Paisely and Lynn Fuston to name a couple.

Check out this link, pretty impressive endorsement:

http://www.3daudioinc.com/3db/showthrea ... =lachapell

http://blog.svconline.com/briefingroom/ ... amplifier/

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:14 pm

For transparency, don't forget the True Precision series. I bought the octal version as a lifetime investment and it is my main front-end for my eight-channel ADDA from RME. But I now have a couple of single-channel tube preamps for more choices as transparency isn't always the best match even at the tracking stage. But I would rate True's the most transparent of all. Not the same as saying it's the "best", and I agree that preamps are the one area where you might go for more specialisation (just as with mics). All of the listed preamps are very good indeed. I may eventually pick up one of those multi-purposed Millenium units myself. It does a LOT.