[chadbang]

Well, I took my new toy, the Audio Research LS3 preamp, back to the used audio shop today. My plan was to trade it for something else. The dealer came up with some alternatives: an Anthem Pre1L preamp and a Conrad Johnson PV 10a preamp.

We tucked the ARC LS3 in with these amps and I gave them all a listen. The speakers were Thiel 3.6 and the amp was a Classe. I can't remember the cd player.

First listen was to the Athem Pre1L. I'd heard of this preamp before - it's a hybrid/tube - and it's supposed to be quite okay. I was actually fairly underwhelmed by it. The bass was really unfocused and, strangely, the vocals had more than a hint of grain. Nothing really shone and it sounded unremarkable. The key word, I guess, would be unfocused. Really unimpressive. Switching over to the LS3, everything came into focus and clarity and (gasp) WITHOUT THAT MUCH BRIGHTNESS!

Here's where my sad realization kicked in: My system is just not up to the standard of the LS3. In this good system (this VERY good system), it wasn't overly bright and there wasn't any sibilance. All the stuff I hated about it are due to my other components. I just wish I could figure out what's the biggest culprit, but it might be a combination of all of them. The Audio Research LS3 is actually a very good preamp and eexcellent sounding for a solid state unit (but still not as "smooth" as tubes) and I shouldn't have discarded its virtues so easily. I appologize to ARC fans. But....

THE CONRAD JOHNSON PV 10a PREAMP! What a winner! Beautiful sound and if that's the sound of tubes, I must go tube. The Conrad Johnson had rich warm, rounded vocals and is wondrous with instruments, sort of lifting them up and out (the fabled "bloom"?). More bass than either the LS3 or the Pre1L, as well.

But what really moved me was that the dynamics and timing of the amp are superb. Superb!

I would have jumped on it but the dealer quoted me $820 and research told me that was about $200 dollars too much. Also sometimes one channel on the preamp didn't kick in right away and took some jiggling of a connection cable to get both going. A friend of my once had a Conrad Johnson preamp for his maggies, and every time I went to his house and wanted to hear his Magnepans, he'd say: "My preamp isn't working". This went on for six months so in the back of my mind Conrad Johnson has registered as: unreliable. They might not well be, but this unit also seemed a bit shakey -- so I UNFORTUNATELY had to pass on it.

Afterthought: BUT I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT!

So, in the scheme of things, the Conrad Johnson preamp was the best sounding there - I loved it. But the Audio Research LS3 also held its own. Not quite the same smooth vocals or bosomy bass as the CJ, but still very respectable! So, I decided I've thrown around enough money this week and that I'd hold onto the Audio Research for the time being. I still going to continue using my Citation 21 preamp with my current set up -- I'm just biding my time with the LS3 at the moment, waiting to see what comes down the audio road next. Maybe a better match is down the pike.

Thanks again to all who helped me. And your recommendation of the ARC LS3 certainly wasnt' erroneous. I just found out how fortuitously (and precipitously) balanced the rest of my "Class E" system is!

 

[Jon L]

Boy, I used to have LS3 a Looong ago. It was a good preamp and does everything well without significant flaws. Doesn't grab you or sound spectacular, but it IS neutral.

I then moved on to all-tube Audible Illusions L1. While I lilked the tube sound, esp after tube-rolling, I must admit that LS3 was probably more neutral in the end.

Now I don't use a preamp at all and don't plan to anytime soon.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

So what do you think it is, the amp?

 

[pigmode]

The logical next step would be to stop messing around with SS and go with a tube amp. What is the sensitivity and impedance rating of your speakers?

 

[chadbang]

Right-o. I think I'm either going to go with a Conrad-Johnson or try to audition an Audible Illusions (but, I haven't seen one here (in Thailand) for about three years). Then after the preamp, down the road, maybe I'll even consider a tube amp. I forget what the Spicas are, I believe they're sensitivity rating is 89 and I believe they're 4 ohm. Even with their low sensitivity, I'm not running into any lack of power situation, since I'm barely pushing the amp.

Dusty: Well, I'm pretty sure its not the CD player. I was so annoyed by sibilance that I went to the extreme of hooking my portable D-777 into my system. I figured that would be the ultimate high roll off, but I still had sibilance with the d-777!

So I figure it's an amp/speaker bad combination. But what puzzles me is that the Adcom GFA 535 is an okay amp, and you think you would have heard complaints of it being way too bright before (from Stereophile, for example). But perhaps there is some brightness there. And then the Spicas are a relatively lean speaker, so that exacerbating the problem if there is one. Like I said, it's the muddiness of my HK Citation preamp that's holding things together at this point.

Just out of interest, WOULD a grounding problem add to system brightness? I've still got a touch of exteraneous current across my system (you can feel the electrical charge when you run you fingers across the side of the preamp.) Yeah, I know it's not good in general, but could this add brightness to a system?

 

[BoyElroy]

Quote:

And then the Spicas are a relatively lean speaker, so that exacerbating the problem if there is one

Hi Chadbang,

I think this is an understatement! The bottom end of the Spicas drops off like a cliff so the sound can be extremely lean without some sort of mechanically coupled stand and/or correct amp.

One cheap fix you may want to explore is some kind of bolt or screw-down mod that will couple your Spicas to their speakers stands. This could add as much as an extra octave to your bottom end.

Best of luck!