Hales
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2007
- Posts
- 59
- Likes
- 0
I have been listening to a Sansui C-2101 preamp through its headphone out for about a week now. The preamp was built in the mid 80's and was just below the 2301 in a lineup that was meant to take on American solid state high end. The 2301 did not have a headphone out though.
As a preamp it has inputs for CD, Tuner, 2 Line inputs, 3 tape decks, and 2 full function phono inputs. Build quality is decent with a large power supply and lots of shielding. It uses relays for switching to keep signal paths short. The audio circuits are direct coupled with no capacitors in the signal path. It has built in parametric eq, subsonic filtering, a loudness button, and bypass switches to turn them all off.
The overall sound as a traditional preamp driving a power amp and speakers is slightly dark and slightly warm. Its very quiet. Dynamics are nice and punchy. Imaging is good, but not as 3D or "bloomy" as tubes. The sound is polite solid state with good rhythm and pace.
The headphone out keeps the dynamics and rhythm, but presents a much more balanced tonal spectrum. Listening with HD600's the C-2101 easily drives them to ear shaking levels, but also gives you a very quiet background on jazz and classical. You can turn the volume to the 3 o'clock level and hear noises of the concert hall without any hiss (unless its on the master tape) and when the band/orchestra swells the preamp keeps up. Complex music does not get muddled and you can follow all of the instrument and vocal lines very well.
With the HD600's the treble is revealing of bright recordings from the 80's and early 90's. The treble is good on well recorded music though. Listening to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue the cymbals are very dynamic and nuanced. You can hear the ride cymbal rotating on its stand after a hard hit. Listening to the CD of Appetite for Destruction by Guns and Roses the cymbals are just as bright as they are on most systems, but the extra dynamic punch of the C-2101 seems to keep them sounding like cymbals instead of half cymbals / half white noise. I guess the best way to describe the treble is detailed and unforgiving of brightly mastered recordings.
The low bass is not as visceral as other preamps have been on these particular phones. The C-2101 does not sound lean by any means, but my Sonic Frontiers Line 1 SE just makes the HD600's kick and growl on certain kinds of music. I am taking the preamp in to a tech to have it checked over and will ask them to check the subsonic filter. The stated Freq Response is DC - 300,000hz @ -3db so there should not be any rolloff on the low end.
As a preamp it has inputs for CD, Tuner, 2 Line inputs, 3 tape decks, and 2 full function phono inputs. Build quality is decent with a large power supply and lots of shielding. It uses relays for switching to keep signal paths short. The audio circuits are direct coupled with no capacitors in the signal path. It has built in parametric eq, subsonic filtering, a loudness button, and bypass switches to turn them all off.
The overall sound as a traditional preamp driving a power amp and speakers is slightly dark and slightly warm. Its very quiet. Dynamics are nice and punchy. Imaging is good, but not as 3D or "bloomy" as tubes. The sound is polite solid state with good rhythm and pace.
The headphone out keeps the dynamics and rhythm, but presents a much more balanced tonal spectrum. Listening with HD600's the C-2101 easily drives them to ear shaking levels, but also gives you a very quiet background on jazz and classical. You can turn the volume to the 3 o'clock level and hear noises of the concert hall without any hiss (unless its on the master tape) and when the band/orchestra swells the preamp keeps up. Complex music does not get muddled and you can follow all of the instrument and vocal lines very well.
With the HD600's the treble is revealing of bright recordings from the 80's and early 90's. The treble is good on well recorded music though. Listening to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue the cymbals are very dynamic and nuanced. You can hear the ride cymbal rotating on its stand after a hard hit. Listening to the CD of Appetite for Destruction by Guns and Roses the cymbals are just as bright as they are on most systems, but the extra dynamic punch of the C-2101 seems to keep them sounding like cymbals instead of half cymbals / half white noise. I guess the best way to describe the treble is detailed and unforgiving of brightly mastered recordings.
The low bass is not as visceral as other preamps have been on these particular phones. The C-2101 does not sound lean by any means, but my Sonic Frontiers Line 1 SE just makes the HD600's kick and growl on certain kinds of music. I am taking the preamp in to a tech to have it checked over and will ask them to check the subsonic filter. The stated Freq Response is DC - 300,000hz @ -3db so there should not be any rolloff on the low end.
