Congratulations, glad I could help.
Do let us know your initial impressions along with a mention about the other components in your chain. What were the biggest changes you noticed?
MaSh
Acoustic Portrait - Swara – Tube Preamp
- Thread starter MaSh
- Start date
Do let us know your initial impressions along with a mention about the other components in your chain. What were the biggest changes you noticed?
MaSh
Most noticeable change was the muscular low end. I had a JC2 clone preamplifier before the Swara. Everything sounds cleaner and full bodied now.
Speakers are Aurum Cantus 620, powered by an Odyssey Kismet Reference. Source is a Synology NAS, connected to an Audiolab 6000N Play. Then, there are a couple of Technics 1200SLs, a Little Bear phono and Ortofon 2M Red. The second TT has a DIY Phono and Shure M 44-7.
Speakers are Aurum Cantus 620, powered by an Odyssey Kismet Reference. Source is a Synology NAS, connected to an Audiolab 6000N Play. Then, there are a couple of Technics 1200SLs, a Little Bear phono and Ortofon 2M Red. The second TT has a DIY Phono and Shure M 44-7.
M
mpw
Guest
Request a pic please
M
mpw
Guest
@MaSh Sorry for bringing back a old thread up but thought its better to dig this up than create a new one. I am planning to go for a pre-power combo in the future (maybe 2-3 months down the line or earlier if current situation progresses better) and was reading through the threads.
I was thinking of a budget around 70-75k and getting a tube-amp ( Lyrita/AP Swara) as a pre and Emotiva A300 series or anything else(Parasound alternatives) to drive my Emit M20's. Considering you used the AP Swara as pre in the past do you suggest to go this route or save a little more and go for a Naim Nait 5Si/other integrated alternatives at that price range. I would like to experience the tube sound without wanting to invest heavily since i kind of have a feeling that i would enjoy the same (since i prefer it when there is lot of character to the vocals with a decent soundstage)
I was thinking of a budget around 70-75k and getting a tube-amp ( Lyrita/AP Swara) as a pre and Emotiva A300 series or anything else(Parasound alternatives) to drive my Emit M20's. Considering you used the AP Swara as pre in the past do you suggest to go this route or save a little more and go for a Naim Nait 5Si/other integrated alternatives at that price range. I would like to experience the tube sound without wanting to invest heavily since i kind of have a feeling that i would enjoy the same (since i prefer it when there is lot of character to the vocals with a decent soundstage)
Hey Hi,
That is perfectly fine. I dont think there is a proper thread dedicated to the Amazing AP Tube Preamp. Its a great Tube Pre and can drive a power amp very well. It is very transparent and puts out the details as is. For that price, I doubt you can get a better one. At a higher price range, yeh there could be better ones. I switched to Minidsp, which actually forced me to stop using the Preamp, else would have never taken it out of my chain.
Mine is Sold on paper, however, it was just before the lockdown and I am not able to courier it as the buyers area is completely locked down. More over, me not being in Bangalore, is not helping either. So the preamp is packed and sitting.
There are a couple of Naim users in Bangalore. Maybe you can reach out to them and try it at your place. With a Pre and Power amp combo, there is no better way to check than to put them both together.
MaSh
I honestly dont know. There is some input output voltage that defines how well the pairing is, but I never understood it quite well. I used mine with DD power amp and the pairing was quite good. I am currently using minidsp as pre with the same amp. The difference is how the volume increases. With AP, its about 1 db per press on the remote, while minidsp its .5db. Minidsp seems more linear, however, at times it feels a bit slow when you want to quickly increase or decrease the volume. Cannot compare the sound quality as AP and Minidsp are very different devices.
You are in Bangalore, you could carry your equipment to AP and demo the Pre with it. That would be the best way forward. You could get their contact details from their website.
MaSh
Thanks for your input. I would certainly love to take your AP Tube Pre incase buyer backs out and will not mind waiting till you are back in Bangalore as i have been prohibited to get any stuff home till things get better by home ministry
Noted. Shall let you know.Thanks for your input. I would certainly love to take your AP Tube Pre incase buyer backs out and will not mind waiting till you are back in Bangalore as i have been prohibited to get any stuff home till things get better by home ministry
MaSh
dazzwilliams
Active Member
Can I pair the Acoustic portrait Swara tube Pre-amp with Norge Concerto Gold 1000 amp?
Speakers are DIY bookshelf speakers in MTM Configuration 4 ohms and 120w rated.
Its a integrated amplifier, why would you add one more preamp in the chain?
If you are interested in tubey goodness to the sound, you should try the cheaper tube buffer from Acoustic Portrait Swara series. The result may not be very predictable. No harm in asking for home audition of AP tube buffer.
I don't know about rest of your chain, upgrade should be in a planned manner, if you are set with Amp & Speakers invest in a better DAC in my opinion.
dazzwilliams
Active Member
Okay. Got it. I thought we could somehow bypass the Pre stage and connect it to power amp stage directly
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square_wave
Well-Known Member
This is possible if you have that option in your integrated amp. If you do have that option, bypass the preamp in your integrated amp and you will get a big jump in sound quality. Provided you use a good interconnect as well. With many integrated amps, the biggest area of compromise is the preamp section.
I have done this many years ago with a NAD c350 integrated amp with the Thiyaga AP preamp. The preamp cost was 3 times the amp. Keep that in mind. Worth it !
D
Deleted member 15865
Guest
As @square_wave wrote above, if your integrated amp has a provision to bypass its pre and input directly to its power section, you can connect another preamp of your preference (solid state or tube). You can easily check that from the manual or from the ports at the back of your amp.
As for hybrid amplification - tube pre with solid state (SS) power... it’s something I have had for quite some time now (Lyrita DHT pre with Audiolab 8200A power section). I agree with @drkrack that the result is not predictable. It depends greatly on how well the impedances and gains match between the tube pre and the SS power as well as how their sonic properties synergise. But in general expect the following:
1. More emotional and holographic vocals and mids instruments like saxophone, electric guitar etc. This is why tube interface is so sought after.
2. Quite possibly less definition in the bass (some upper bass bloating which also contributes to 1 above). SS devouts don’t like this, especially if you listen to music with lots of bass content (not volume of bass, but richness/variety).
3. A certain bloom in the sound which some like and some don’t.
Having enjoyed the euphonic hybrid sound in the past, these days I find myself preferring the clearer delivery of integrated solid state.
Please understand that this isn’t a critique on tube amplification. The problems in points 2 and 3 above wouldn’t be faced if you went for an all-tube (pre-power or integrated) amplification with dynamic, high sensitivity speakers. In fact, it’s with those speakers that the tubes are meant to marry with. Most of us have budget speakers which are medium sensitivity with 6 inch woofers which won’t be driven by tube power amp. So we go for the hybrid (with tube pre) is which has its own compromises as mentioned above.
In short, get a tube pre on loan or demo. Listen to variety of music for a week. Then decide if you’d want to go that route.
As for hybrid amplification - tube pre with solid state (SS) power... it’s something I have had for quite some time now (Lyrita DHT pre with Audiolab 8200A power section). I agree with @drkrack that the result is not predictable. It depends greatly on how well the impedances and gains match between the tube pre and the SS power as well as how their sonic properties synergise. But in general expect the following:
1. More emotional and holographic vocals and mids instruments like saxophone, electric guitar etc. This is why tube interface is so sought after.
2. Quite possibly less definition in the bass (some upper bass bloating which also contributes to 1 above). SS devouts don’t like this, especially if you listen to music with lots of bass content (not volume of bass, but richness/variety).
3. A certain bloom in the sound which some like and some don’t.
Having enjoyed the euphonic hybrid sound in the past, these days I find myself preferring the clearer delivery of integrated solid state.
Please understand that this isn’t a critique on tube amplification. The problems in points 2 and 3 above wouldn’t be faced if you went for an all-tube (pre-power or integrated) amplification with dynamic, high sensitivity speakers. In fact, it’s with those speakers that the tubes are meant to marry with. Most of us have budget speakers which are medium sensitivity with 6 inch woofers which won’t be driven by tube power amp. So we go for the hybrid (with tube pre) is which has its own compromises as mentioned above.
In short, get a tube pre on loan or demo. Listen to variety of music for a week. Then decide if you’d want to go that route.
@square_wave, There is no information available about "Thiyaga Preamp" in Acoustic Portrait Website. Could you please share price details, front & back pictures if possible. Thanks.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
I don't think they are making them anymore. No pics with me sorry. It used to be around 75k to 90k price range depending upon the upgrades you choose. This was about ten years ago.
Buy from India's official online dealer!
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