Soulution 520 or Constellation Virgo II ...

joeinid

joeinid

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I've been thinking about these two preamps. Any ideas?
 
Soulution 520 would get my vote. But then again, you've heard the Constellation preamp paired with the Hegel and loved it. Tough choice.
 
I always want tubes somewhere in the chain especially preamp.
 
It may depend on your amplifier(s). I'd ask David, see what he has to say. I love the 520, but I don't know how it sounds with other brands.

And I also like Constellation. So my advice is clearly useless, apologies.
 
Soulution 520, especially if you listen to vinyl and can take advantage of the built in phono stage. Good luck with your quest for a SS preamp.
 
Dpod4 said:
I always want tubes somewhere in the chain especially preamp.
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Kind of my thoughts too. I do love my GAT.

VT Skier said:
It may depend on your amplifier(s). I'd ask David, see what he has to say. I love the 520, but I don't know how it sounds with other brands.

And I also like Constellation. So my advice is clearly useless, apologies.
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Certainly not useless. Highly valued. Both Constellation and Soulution have very low output impedance so I will have no problems with any amp.

dan31 said:
Soulution 520, especially if you listen to vinyl and can take advantage of the built in phono stage. Good luck with your quest for a SS preamp.
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I'd have to see if the 520 I was looking at had phono. Thanks.
 
Joe

How about this for a whole lot less. You have one of the finest phono preamps available already in house so that should not be a consideration. If you are trying to pair this with the Hegel any quality tube preamp should work. The numbers are not as important as how it sounds.

PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium Preamplifier

From you thrifty Shark friend.

Jack
 
The CJ preamps have very high gain numbers and there is no input sensitivity listed on the Hegel site, so who knows how the match is other than from listening which Joe can do. I would suspect it is like most SS amps, other than JOB, and is between 1.25 and 1.5mv for full output. With those numbers and the GAT's high gain there might be tube hiss at no volume no matter the quality of the tubes.
 
Jack said:
Joe

How about this for a whole lot less. You have one of the finest phono preamps available already in house so that should not be a consideration. If you are trying to pair this with the Hegel any quality tube preamp should work. The numbers are not as important as how it sounds.

PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium Preamplifier

From you thrifty Shark friend.

Jack
Click to expand...

Hi Jack,

I do plan on experimenting with PrimaLuna gear. My initial thoughts on a preamp was for a balanced SS or possibly balanced tubed preamp to go with the Hegel H30 and whatever else I have/get balanced amp-wise.

dlb2 said:
If we're talking thrifty I vote for the CJ GAT. :)
That and a nice SS amp, oh yeah. As long as the gain is okay.
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I already know how awesome my GAT is with EVERYTHING that I have. So I am really just looking for trouble. I need to quit while I am ahead. I need to let the Strads take me away :)
 
The GAT has a low output impedance, under 100 ohms which is perfect. Gain maybe a little high, but only a tiny bit problematic with the Job, nothing else.

Jack said:
The CJ preamps have very high gain numbers and there is no input sensitivity listed on the Hegel site, so who knows how the match is other than from listening which Joe can do. I would suspect it is like most SS amps, other than JOB, and is between 1.25 and 1.5mv for full output. With those numbers and the GAT's high gain there might be tube hiss at no volume no matter the quality of the tubes.
Click to expand...
 
Joe

You are right, you need to quit while you are ahead, as the GAT is one of the industries great preamps. If it works with the Hegel be happy and keep the money in your pocket. If you decide you want to play with the Primaluna gear, then don't overlook the Mystere brand which is the same gear in fancier dress. Both designed by the same person. When I get my Odyssey Kismet in a couple of weeks then I think I will be on the lookout for one of the Primaluna preamps to go with it.
 
Awesome!

Can't wait for you to get the Odyssey Kismets. I am sure the PL preamp is wonderful. I want to try one of the PL Dialogue HP amps. I'll check out the Mystere gear. I heard their preamp years ago and thought it was wonderful.


Jack said:
Joe

You are right, you need to quit while you are ahead, as the GAT is one of the industries great preamps. If it works with the Hegel be happy and keep the money in your pocket. If you decide you want to play with the Primaluna gear, then don't overlook the Mystere brand which is the same gear in fancier dress. Both designed by the same person. When I get my Odyssey Kismet in a couple of weeks then I think I will be on the lookout for one of the Primaluna preamps to go with it.
Click to expand...
 
Joe,

Just heard the Soulution 520, it sounded outstanding, very pure and resolving. It has a terrific phono stage.

Ken
 
It sure would be difficult to replace the GAT with another tube stage. That thing is the gat's meow. Now if you have an itch for SS, I get that and you know what I would recommend. To me Constellation is sweet in the mids but seemed a bit light on the frequency extremes. (Please note this observation was under show conditions.)
 
FlexibleAudio said:
It sure would be difficult to replace the GAT with another tube stage. That thing is the gat's meow. Now if you have an itch for SS, I get that and you know what I would recommend. To me Constellation is sweet in the mids but seemed a bit light on the frequency extremes. (Please note this observation was under show conditions.)
Click to expand...

+1 IMO, it doesn't get any better than the GAT for a tube preamp.

Ken
 
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