Dreamer
Classified Forum Moderator
I was messing around with my system this evening, getting it ready for a visit from a local Martin Logan guy Saturday afternoon, and after listening for a while, I decided to make a major change, just to see what it sounded like.
I had a pure passive selector (which I hand-built about 10 years ago) sitting in the back room, so I got it out on the main rack, and unplugged my CD player and amp from the C-4000t, and routed them through my little passive box instead. When I say passive, I REALLY mean it--it is a 3-position switch (for selecting source) and a stereo pot for controlling volume (both were Mil-Spec parts I got from a DC-area electronics supply house that specialises in selling parts to companies who do prototypes for the Defense Dept.), silver soldered to a bank of RCA jacks, in a Radio Shack project box. This thing is REALLY basic, and except for the REALLY cool face-plate I made for it, pretty ghetto in construction...
Anyway, I put on Diana Krall's "Girl In The Other Room", and OMG! It was like someone pulled a blanket off my Sequels. The low-level midrange noise was gone--still points in the music have a whole other level of "blackness" to them, ambience is just a lot more airy. Wow. It actually sort of ****ed me off at first, because I dropped several hundred $$$ on this Carver last fall (it was a life-long piece of "dream gear" that I just HAD to have).
Don't get me wrong--I LOVE my C-4000t. It is very versatile, and gives me all sorts of control and processing options, especially for vinyl. But let's not kid ourselves folks--the C-4000t IS a pretty noisy preamp as high-end preamps go.
And this little passive box isn't perfect either. The bass is a little too forward and even in some places exagerated, and mids are VERY laid back (but delightfully clear and well-defined) It is a VERY clean-sounding little box, but it does have a sort of laid-back pace to it on agressive music like the Doors, or something like Jet or the Donnas. It's a great piece of kit for Acoustic and Jazz, but I'll admit for rock or BIG classical it's a little too relaxed-sounding for me.
What's so amazing to me is that this little passive box cost me all of about $60 to build. The most expensive part was the Pot, and I think I paid about $35 for it back then, because I was working as a contractor and my ID allowed me to get the piece at wholesale...
If only the C-4000t was as quiet as this little box. With it's excellent phono stages, tone controls, and sound-processing, the C-4000t would be a STELLAR pre if it was this quiet...
I suppose I'm going to have to get REAL serious about tracking down a Sunfire TGP-III or IV. I've heard they are exponentially more quiet, AND they have the added advantage of doing the Sonic Holography in the digital domain, so it's much quieter and has a LOT more air too.
Call me a tweeker. I'll admit that I do, in fact, own three soldering irons. But the only time I use them is when I'm building my own stuff...
Maybe it's time to try my hand at this again. I'm thinking Vishay pots and switches all around, gold-plated jacks, and a heavily shielded metal chassis for even MORE quiet and pure signal transfer. Screw the preamplification. I'll get an outboard Phono preamp, and an outboard Sonic Holography box for when I want to "play"... Even if I put a tubed buffer stage in the mix, it would be HUNDREDS of $$$ less than even a used TGP-IV!
Anyone else use a passive (or semi-passive, like Mccormack) Preamp/Selector with their Maritn Logans?
--Richard
I had a pure passive selector (which I hand-built about 10 years ago) sitting in the back room, so I got it out on the main rack, and unplugged my CD player and amp from the C-4000t, and routed them through my little passive box instead. When I say passive, I REALLY mean it--it is a 3-position switch (for selecting source) and a stereo pot for controlling volume (both were Mil-Spec parts I got from a DC-area electronics supply house that specialises in selling parts to companies who do prototypes for the Defense Dept.), silver soldered to a bank of RCA jacks, in a Radio Shack project box. This thing is REALLY basic, and except for the REALLY cool face-plate I made for it, pretty ghetto in construction...
Anyway, I put on Diana Krall's "Girl In The Other Room", and OMG! It was like someone pulled a blanket off my Sequels. The low-level midrange noise was gone--still points in the music have a whole other level of "blackness" to them, ambience is just a lot more airy. Wow. It actually sort of ****ed me off at first, because I dropped several hundred $$$ on this Carver last fall (it was a life-long piece of "dream gear" that I just HAD to have).
Don't get me wrong--I LOVE my C-4000t. It is very versatile, and gives me all sorts of control and processing options, especially for vinyl. But let's not kid ourselves folks--the C-4000t IS a pretty noisy preamp as high-end preamps go.
And this little passive box isn't perfect either. The bass is a little too forward and even in some places exagerated, and mids are VERY laid back (but delightfully clear and well-defined) It is a VERY clean-sounding little box, but it does have a sort of laid-back pace to it on agressive music like the Doors, or something like Jet or the Donnas. It's a great piece of kit for Acoustic and Jazz, but I'll admit for rock or BIG classical it's a little too relaxed-sounding for me.
What's so amazing to me is that this little passive box cost me all of about $60 to build. The most expensive part was the Pot, and I think I paid about $35 for it back then, because I was working as a contractor and my ID allowed me to get the piece at wholesale...
If only the C-4000t was as quiet as this little box. With it's excellent phono stages, tone controls, and sound-processing, the C-4000t would be a STELLAR pre if it was this quiet...
I suppose I'm going to have to get REAL serious about tracking down a Sunfire TGP-III or IV. I've heard they are exponentially more quiet, AND they have the added advantage of doing the Sonic Holography in the digital domain, so it's much quieter and has a LOT more air too.
Call me a tweeker. I'll admit that I do, in fact, own three soldering irons. But the only time I use them is when I'm building my own stuff...
Maybe it's time to try my hand at this again. I'm thinking Vishay pots and switches all around, gold-plated jacks, and a heavily shielded metal chassis for even MORE quiet and pure signal transfer. Screw the preamplification. I'll get an outboard Phono preamp, and an outboard Sonic Holography box for when I want to "play"... Even if I put a tubed buffer stage in the mix, it would be HUNDREDS of $$$ less than even a used TGP-IV!
Anyone else use a passive (or semi-passive, like Mccormack) Preamp/Selector with their Maritn Logans?
--Richard
The current one is fancy in that it uses a laser trimmed ALPS pot, relays for the source input switching, and has HT pass thru, a pretty case with blue LEDs, and a remote. But other than that, and of course in price, it is not really different from your Ghettanuator.
