The Primare R32 arrived today. It came double boxed. It's essentially a brand new unit. It was a demo with about 30-45 minutes on it. I found it in Phoenix, AZ. Swapped the old preamp with it this afternoon; and let it and the Jolida warm up for a bit. Then I dropped the needle on some Talking Heads and a lot more.
OMG! Night and day. I can't believe how hollow my old preamp sounded compared to this one. Best upgrade I've made since moving from the Thorens to the Rega. I thought I'd miss the tubes, but all I miss right now is their light. It's just a deeper richer more involving sound. Bells and echos sound beautiful, detailed, and seem to linger forever. Drums sound alive instead of like a bunch of dead thumps. I don't think I've ever heard this amount of depth on any TT I've ever owned. It also seems to hold up dammed well at low volume. Higher volume... it's so much fun to listen to. My wife will soon hate me and I'll be exiled to the garage yet again.
A few of my local audiophile buddies tried to talk me out of it. Mostly because they'd never heard of Primare, much less ever heard this specific preamp. I almost listened and passed on it. I read every review I could find. Then I thought... I trust you guys. So, I bought it anyway. I've been listening as I've tapped this out. Horns are awesome now! I wish you could have just heard that! It's weird... I thought that allot of my records must be worn out. They sound awesome now.
I can't imagine this getting better as it warms up or burns in. Thank you so much for pointing me in this direction. I think I'll be happy with this set up for some time.
OMG! Night and day. I can't believe how hollow my old preamp sounded compared to this one. Best upgrade I've made since moving from the Thorens to the Rega. I thought I'd miss the tubes, but all I miss right now is their light. It's just a deeper richer more involving sound. Bells and echos sound beautiful, detailed, and seem to linger forever. Drums sound alive instead of like a bunch of dead thumps. I don't think I've ever heard this amount of depth on any TT I've ever owned. It also seems to hold up dammed well at low volume. Higher volume... it's so much fun to listen to. My wife will soon hate me and I'll be exiled to the garage yet again.
A few of my local audiophile buddies tried to talk me out of it. Mostly because they'd never heard of Primare, much less ever heard this specific preamp. I almost listened and passed on it. I read every review I could find. Then I thought... I trust you guys. So, I bought it anyway. I've been listening as I've tapped this out. Horns are awesome now! I wish you could have just heard that! It's weird... I thought that allot of my records must be worn out. They sound awesome now.
I can't imagine this getting better as it warms up or burns in. Thank you so much for pointing me in this direction. I think I'll be happy with this set up for some time.
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