[Kieran Comito]

I just hooked up the PS Audio PCA-2 preamp about an hour ago. Prior to hooking it up, I had the ASL Twin Head MK II playing. Quick hookup was easy, it took about 5 minutes. The sound of the Twin Head was still fresh in my head when I turned on the PCA-2 on the two channel speaker system. To be frank, the sound of the PCA-2 out of the box is quite a dropoff from the Twin Head. What really jumps out at me is the difference in midrange between the two amps. With the Twin Head, it was awsome, with the PCA-2 it is just so so. You could say the same with everything else too, except maybe the bass. I guess I should hold judgement on the PCA-2 as a preamp as it is just out of the box. They say it takes 200-250 hours to break this thing in. With that said, the PCA-2 has a lot of ground to make up to match the sound of the Twin Head as a preamp. One thing is for sure. The PCA-2 is great looking and I love its functions, which I have yet to activate. I know most of you are curious about its headphone jack. I have not tried it yet, but I hope to in a day or two with the HD 600s and the R 10s. I suppose burn in will be in issue here too.

 

[Wilson M.]

Give it a long burn-in. Also a lot of solid state require a lot of time to stabilize. I used to have Goldmund gear and it would take the better part of 2 days before the sound settled down after power up. You could actually hear it improve over the 2 days. Needless to say, I tried to not power them down.

And cables... boy, what works for tubes doesn't always work out for solid state.

But tubes can have a liquidity and an immediacy that few solid state pre-amps and amps can match. But tubes aren't perfect either.

If you like tube pre-amps, take a look at the Hovland HP-100 (I think someone on Head-Fi has it), the CAT SL-1 Ultimate or the Nagra PL-L. In the under $10,000 category, those are the best pre-amps in my experience.

 

[Calanctus]

Kieran Comito:

Thanks for posting. What speakers are you listening to?

Are you powering your speakers with a receiver? Your profile indicates that you have two of them, but does not list any other speaker amps.

 

[Kieran Comito]

Quote:

Originally posted by Calanctus Kieran Comito: Thanks for posting. What speakers are you listening to? Are you powering your speakers with a receiver? Your profile indicates that you have two of them, but does not list any other speaker amps.

Right now I have the set up with Green Mountain Audio Europas. Right behind hiding in the corner are Newform Research 645s Ribbon loudspeakers. Normally, the Newforn Research is in the system, but I am trying to burn in the Europas. I do have the Preamp going straight to a power amp, not a reciever. It is an Anthem MCA 2 200 watt amp. It's just an entry level amp and I am going to upgrade that for sure. Thanks

 

[Nightfall]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kieran Comito I know most of you are curious about its headphone jack. I have not tried it yet, but I hope to in a day or two with the HD 600s and the R 10s. I suppose burn in will be in issue here too. [/B]

I'm very eager to hear your thoughts on the headphone listening quality. Please update us asap.



JC

 

[Kieran Comito]

I thought I would give the PS Audio HCA-2 amp a try too. I figured it would have good synergy with the PCA-2. I odered it, and should be here within a week. If it does not jive with my speaker systems, I can always send it back. PS Audio has a 30 day return policy. As for the headphone jack on the PCA, standby I hope to get a couple of hours in tonight.

 

[Calanctus]

Word of advice on the HCA2: add a good power cord. I've got VD Nite on mine plus Audio Magic Stealth PLC and I LIKE it!

 

[Kieran Comito]

Thanks, I already have the VD Nite Power Cord. However that is hooked up to my main headphone system. I do have the VD Signature cord in the speaker system.

 

[Kieran Comito]

I spent some time listening to the headphone section on this preamp today. It is indeed very good. Everything is there. All the frequencies are coming through at lower volumes. Very enjoyable to say the least. I tried to compare it to the HR-2 a little but came away thinking they both sound good, but different. The PCA-2 a little brighter, but not in a bad way. I'm sure the PCA-2 needs some burn in too.

 

[KR...]

keep us updated.

 

[Nightfall]

Quote:

Originally posted by KR... keep us updated.

Please do Kieran. Also, I would be very interested, once you have had enough time with the PS Audio, in how you think it sounds in comparison to the ASL Twinhead MkII that you own. Thanks.


JC

 

[Kieran Comito]

Okay, I keep going back and forth trying to compare it to the Twin Head MK II. At first, the Twin Head sounded so alive, full of body, and very musical compared to the PS Audio, but then I noticed on some recordings, it was not the case at all. The headphone section on the PS Audio is far from burned in, but its seems to hold its own against the Emmeline HR-2 and the Twin Head in most areas. In this early stage, I am a believer. I am also a believer in the Twin Head, which I have not spent a lot of time with for headphone listneing the past few months. At times, or should I say with some recordings, the Twin Head is astonishing. More on that later. I need more time to decifer differences.

 

[kfaiman]

Kieran,

Awesome, I am looking for a preamp to go w/ my PS Audio HCA-2. And the Twin Head and PCA-2 were both at the top of my list. Have you arrived at any further conclusions or will it take a bit more burn-in? Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Kieran Comito]

Well, I just hooked up the HCA-2 to the PCA-2 about a half an hour ago. The HCA-2 takes about 250 hours to burn in. I also got PS Audio Statement Power cords and interconnects. I would think having everything from the same company should provide good synergy. You never know until you try I guess. The PCA-2 is almost burned in. The PCA-2 has great features, but it does not sound as good as the Twin Head in my system. I told the guys at the Audio Store (they are PS Audio Dealers and fans of their products) the PCA-2 is not as good as the Twin Head. They said they believed the PCA-2 was one of the best preamps under two grand, especailly when mated with the HCA-2. We shall see. As it stands, the Twin Head with the Anthem MCA 2 power amp did better in most categories than the PCA-2 with the Anthem. The midrange on the Twin Head is killer. I'll give you antoher update in about 5 days. In the meantime, I will try and spend some more time with the headphone section. I have not done a whole lot with that yet because I have been so darn busy. At least when buring the stuff in, I can just turn it on and walk away. By the way Kfaiman, which speakers do you have paired with the HCA-2? I hear they do not do so good with power hungry speakers. What is your take on this?

 

[kfaiman]

Kieran, I have my HCA-2 feeded a pair of GR Research Diluceo speakers (4ohm/91db) w/ ribbon tweaters. They start dropping off at 55dB, so I'm probably not hearing all this class-D amp is capable of, bass-wise. I have yet to try another amp with these speakers. My system is very clear and detailed, especially due to my Assemblage DAC 3.0 Sig. + D2D-1 dejitter/upsampling processor. My Anthem AVM-2 pre-processor is pulling preamp duty. I really want to try a dedicated 2-channel preamp, but am unsure if I want to go passive, active, tube, or ss. I assume the PCA-2 would win in the soundstage/detail arena, but would fall behind in midrange sweetness.

Maybe before I upgrade my preamp, I should upgrade all my $5 power cords for some PS Audio Statements... slowly but surely.