An audio friend Huib offered to listen to some of his preamps. Due to the renovation of its audio listening room, the preamplifiers would be out of work for some time.
He gave me three preamp to listen to. I was willing to do that in exchange for an article on my website.
- TNT PreAmble
- Austalische vv
- ECC tube pre-amp
First, the TNT PreAmble was put to the test. The preamp is a somewhat reserved preamp. Great soundstage but less sparkling, good timbre and no sharpness at all. In my audio set it quickly became boring and less interesting. I think this preamp would perform better in a different set. link to TNT original diagram
The next in line is of Australian descent. A small circuit board where everything is built symmetrically for both channels. According to Huib, it’s extremely important that the components are matched for both channels. This ultimately pays off in a better performance. Good balance, rhythm, Great sound resolving and pleasing to the ear. Great pre-amp! Have a lot of fun listening to this preamp, that’s for sure!
Last the ECC40 tube preamp. Huib said that the tube can make a little noise if your power amplifier is sensitive. That was the reason it took me a little longer to test this preamp. I didn’t have high expectations for this preamplifier to be honest. Huib was curious about my experience with this specific preamplifier. I’ve been running the Parafeet EF6 for some time which is undeniably my number 1 preamplifier. It’s the same as the original schematic from my audio friend DHTROB.
Good timbre, no harshness, a large three-dimensional stage, an enormous sound resolving, open sound in the entire frequency range and extremely pleasant to the ear!!
From the first note it was clear that this is a special tube. It gave me the same feeling as with my EF6 preamp. There is something special about this tube. It’s hard to put into words. It really doesn’t matter at all.. just enjoy the music!! Highly recommend!!! This gives me food for thoughts…..
I would like to thank Huib for making it possible to test these preamplifiers!