Summary: I owned this unit for less than one month as I just could not stand to look at it any longer, and took a loss punting it out of my house.
Considering it was made by former SF people I am surprised what a POS this thing was. The build quality looked good, and it does have a pretty face, but beneath that silky exterior resides a brittle and misguided mutant.
The sound stage is just plain weird, not realistic and simply just so very wrong. The sound is grating and sibilant not unlike someone driving a newly sharpened pencil into the ear cavity. I tried a half-dozen tube brands an none sounded right. I even connected it to 2 different amps to no avail.
The best day I had in a long time was when I took it to the post office and sent it down the road.
...AVOID AT ALL COST!
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating Reviewed by: M. Fri(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date January 12, 2011
Overall Rating 2 of 5
Value Rating 2 of 5
Used product for 1 to 3 months
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
Review 2 of 15
Price Paid:
$0.00
Summary: This is a very nice looking pre and built quite well for the price, which is puzzling as it's nearly....correction.. it IS the worst sounding unit in it's price range that I have ever owned.
I tried several brands of tube in it, and none made it acceptable. Poor soundstage, grainy, and shrill. Not unlike someone shooting razor blades into your ear canal. The soundstage as well seemed very odd indeed, sort of misplaced and unrealistic.
Considering it's from the people that made Sonic Frontiers, it's baffling why this one is such a P.O.S.
I had it for a month and couldn't stand it in my house any longer so I sold it at a loss. What a shame, such a pretty face but a disastrous sonic character.
Sorry for the double post. The above one is mine, it wouldn't let me log in but it let it be posted anyway....
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating Reviewed by: Henry Strong(Unregistered User)
(AudioPhile)
Review Date December 31, 2003
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
Review 3 of 15
Price Paid:
$350.00
from Private Sale
Summary: I bought my PRE1L a while ago second-hand for NZ$500 (about US$350). It has NOS Mullard tubes in now and it sounds amazing! Previous equipment in my system has mostly been NAD and Rotel integrated stuff. I'm running the Anthem into a homemade (300wpc)Mosfet amp loaded with a pair of Image 414 (VERY GOOD NZ made 2 & 1/2way towers). My current CDP is NAD C541i and this in combination with the PRE1L is an excellent match.
The Anthem PRE1L is a true giant killer and well worth a listen if you don't want to spend stoopid money on a valve preamp and don't need a phono input.
Strengths: Neutral for a valve preamp. Not too coloured.
Good, realistic soundstage. I have heard worse for MUCH, MUCH more money.
Looks good in the rack. High WAF.
Weaknesses: Stock vavles are not that good in the bass department I recommend Mullard NOS replacements if you can source 'em.
Similar Products Used: NAD 306, C350
Rotel RA01
Fountain GEMSTAR 8-8 (old 1960s NZ made tube integrated)
Current system:
NAD C541i
Anthem PRE1L
Custom Made Mosfet POwer Amplifier (300wpc)
Image 414 Speakers
Custom made interconnects: triple shielded OFC/silver solder/WBT & Neutrik plugs.
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating Reviewed by: David Read(Unregistered User)
(Audiophile)
Review Date September 14, 2000
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review 4.50 of 5,
2.00 votes
Review 4 of 15
, from Newport News,Virginia
Price Paid:
$750.00
Summary: This is my first tube preamp, so i was't used to the heat issue . Had to modify my (homemade)rack to allow better ventilation. Now, for the sound. In a word,WONDERFUL. Especially with classical and jazz. Strings that were once somewhat harsh with the H.K. were smoothed out,Witout becoming too laid back. Voices very detailed, every inflection, even breaths taken between phrases,are crystal clear. I must comment that I did make a tube change, however. I went to the Westinghouse ECC88-6922,A.K.A. Tesla, ordered from Audio Advisor. Found the Westinghouse tubes to have a lower noise floor than the Sovteks.Slightly more detail, and tighter bass as well. But don't let this disuade you from trying this preamp,it is an excellent unit. I have no intention of replacing it. Highly Recommended! Associated Equipment: Adcom GFA 555,Vandersteen 2ce Signature,Pro-ject6.1 turntable with Grado z2+, NAD5240 cd,Kimber8tc+4tc in bi-wire,Kimber Silver Streak.
Summary: Beautiful no frills tube preamp. Spartan design that yields extremely neutral low noise performance. Can be enhanced with several NOS 6Dj8 tube variations.
Strengths: Detailed, extremely low noise, very neutral with low coloration.
Weaknesses: Rumored out of production.
Similar Products Used: Adcom GFA-555, GFA-565
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
2 of 5
Comments
4 of 5
5 of 5
