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Thinking it's time for a new 2 channel preamplifier


avguytx

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1 hour ago, cgolf70 said:

By accident!!(ha..there are no accidents!!) I just found a pair of Fortes on ebay Saturday.  Included in the already sweet deal was a Luxman R117 stereo receiver that they were using to power the Fortes.  Not a receiver I would ever have looked to buy but wow is it ever powerful and does it ever make the Fortes sing sweet!!

 

Uhh...  did I miss something somewhere or maybe this was posted in the wrong thread. :D  

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P-3000R preamp ordered this morning.  If it all goes through today, maybe I'll see it by Friday afternoon.  if not, no biggie; I'll be busy again at moms house all weekend anyway tying up loose ends on getting house ready to sell.  But if it does make it in, I'll definitely get it put in the rack.  Hopefully it will fit where the other one is.

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7 minutes ago, avguytx said:

Uhh...  did I miss something somewhere or maybe this was posted in the wrong thread. :D 

Sorry, I guess I joined in with the "thread crashing".;):D

 

Definitely want to hear your impressions of the P-3000R.

 

Bill

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avguytx,

 

I'm sure that you will enjoy the new Onkyo preamp, but will it have the same tone control flexibility of the Carver C-1?  I just sold my Carver C-11, and of the things I miss most about it were the separate tone controls for each channel and the variable cross-over points.

 

I admit that the Sonic Holography feature may have been a bit of a gimmick, but it did provide an interesting sound stage with movie sound tracks before I had an AV receiver. 

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On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 11:31 AM, willland said:

Sweeeet.

 

The R-117 is one special piece.:emotion-21:  Thumping bass drive, sweet velvety midrange, and detailed highs.  Did I mention power/headroom?:unsure:  Soundstage?

 

Easily drove my RB-35's and Heresys as speaker A and speaker B without breaking a sweat.

 

Bill

 

I must think that there were a few Luxman designers left over when Alpine bought them.  The "R" ands the "m" series were winners. 
Been running two M117's (bridged) for years. 600wpc beasts. OK, I do like head room. Pretty pricey for 1990 at $1,300 ea.  Known to have a tube like sound for a big SS power amp.   Had them re-capped and gone thru about 10 years ago.

Now they are dedicated to LF duty with MC 100's on the top.

tc

 

 

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13 hours ago, avguytx said:

I've hardly ever used the sonic holography through the years...just some occasional recordings it worked well with. Tone controls I mostly leave flat anyway. 

Well, at least your new Onkyo has tone controls, because, honestly, not all recordings sound good flat.  Your Onkyo may not have dedicated tone knobs, but hopefully the tone settings are "easily" accessible thru your menu system.

 

I've gone the "purist" route before with various preamps that had no tone controls at all.  But, then I had to deal with finding the best interconnects to achieve a "sweeter" sound or deal with harsher, more revealing components, like Klipsch speakers ;).

 

I've found that It's much easier to just turn down a treble knob or change an EQ setting.

In fact, on my wish list for my next preamp, integrated amp or receiver are: Easily and Instantly Accessible Tone Controls on the Remote!

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New preamp made it in today. Just too tired to mess with it tonight. Got a lot of finishing work to do at my mom's house this weekend before getting it appraised and inspected next week for the buyers. Thankfully that's almost behind us...after 4 months worth of every weekend worth of work. Close to being able to start on my Belles now. Finally.  Maybe I can get it hooked up tomorrow night. I've got an older Toshiba SD-6980 DVD player that I got when we rep'd Toshiba at our warehouse in Dallas. It plays DVD audio and SACD so I may even hook that up too. Got some discs I haven't heard in a long time.

 

Also, my Russian NOS PIO capacitors came in today, too. That didn't take too long. 

20170714_192202.jpg

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2 and a half days since the new preamp arrived, it's still sitting in its box in the garage.  We worked on my moms house this weekend which finished up a 4 month long trek of weekends renovating the house to get sold.  So, that was a priority over anything considering I already have a buyer for it.  It'll be nice not having two mortgages over the last 5 months, though....  Same goes with building my Belle clones; I have all of the parts in house and ready to go but there hasn't been any time.  She got sick, then terminally ill, which put all of that on hold, too.  Once I can maneuver my way around the garage again and put all my tools back up from renovating, maybe I can get rolling.  May do the preamp tonight....or maybe tomorrow at lunch.

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Unboxed... This thing is a beast! Right at 24 pounds and, thankfully,  fits where the Carved did.  Running through a few FLAC files on via the USB connection on some familiar tracks. Man, it sounds good. Bass seems more defined with lower tones, vocals are crisp and clear, and the staging is phenomenal. I'd say this was a very good purchase for sure. Built like a tank with solid RCA connections on the back and even adjustable bi-amp preouts so if you have amps without separate gains, you can balance them out. Sweet. 

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This looks like what I have been searching for!  I have a very good Denon 4800 AVR that I bought back in 2001 that I use as preamp with my Amps and Sound 15 watt stereo tube amp and a Oppo 103 that sounds great together.  But the Denon is 16 years old and have been looking for a replacement.  

 

I will have to start saving for it.  

 

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Nice preamp there. I've been following your upcoming Belle build. I've been looking for a center channel for my Khorns for several years. An Academy didn't do it for me, and the La Scalas I had were weak in the bass area, so I've got a K400 waiting and am trying to decide on a Belle or a Cornscala. Please keep us updated on the construction.

 

Dave in west Little Rock

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So far it's doing an awesome job although I don't really use much more than JRiver/flac files and Spotify and a couple of other streams.  The PS3 is tied into it for when someone happens to rent a DVD (I don't do surround) or we want a game played louder (lol)  It might be overkill for what I'm using it for but I'm glad to have a new 2-channel preamp that does the things I wanted/needed it to do and sound great doing it.  I played around with a lot of vintage gear for about 15 years and had a lot of fun with it and made some money back on it along the way.  I'm more interested in just listening to music these days although, if something vintage came along for the right price, I'd get it.

 

I thought I might start on the Belle clones soon but it's been so freaking hot in the garage, I haven't been too worried about it.  Plus, after finishing up on moms house remodeling after 4 months of weekends, there's other things around my own house I need to get done.  Not to mention the last of the goods that came from her house (mostly mine) are in one half of the garage and I can't get to the table saw.  :-/   Soon, though.

 

Hell, I'd buy a pair of Belle's if a pair came up nearby but they don't too often.  I've got "mad money" stashed back for my "hobby" that is separate from the joint funds.  Then I'd just sell off the parts I have and call it good.

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