Price Paid:  $750.00

Summary:
I have owned a Magus A2 for the past 12 years and have always found it to be highly musical when mated to my solid state Belles power amp. It does have a few minor issues such as a detectable noise floor and a little bit of ground hum in the phono section. It’s also not quite the last word in transparency, dynamics, or extension at the frequency extremes. That said, however, this preamp has so much to offer in terms of sheer musicality that it’s an absolute steal at current used market prices ($400 - $550). The phono section sounds excellent and will handle MM and high output MC cartridges. When I bought the Magus, it replaced a solid state NAD preamp and the improvement in sound was very dramatic. I also compared it to a Conrad Johnson PV-10, a Carver preamp, and a Melos preamp. Compared to the CJ PV-10, the Magus had more detail and transparency but a slightly smaller soundstage. The Melos preamp had more detail but CD’s were very harsh and unlistenable. Music through the Carver preamp had absolutely no “life”. The Magus made CD’s sound decent and offered the best combination of detail and transparency. It also infused the music with a certain degree of liveliness that I found to be very appealing. During the past 12 years, I have had the opportunity to try a couple of pricey solid state preamps in my system and was very disappointed in their sound. I was always happy to put the Magus back in the system. If you’ve wanted to see what tubes might have to offer in your system without spending a bundle of cash, I can’t think of a better tube preamp to try than a Magus.

Strengths:
Musicality, reliability, great phono section, simplicity, price.

Weaknesses:
Smidgen of ground hum in phono section, slightly elevated noise floor (not dead quiet).

Similar Products Used:
EAD, NAD, Conrad Johnson, Melos, Carver

Summary:
I have the A1 version. I have heard the C version.
But the A1 is better! Problem with the Magus is tube
popcorn noise. The problem can be almost solved with
the Sovtek built-like-a-tank military 6922.

The Magus measure 0.1% distortion at 2V output with
only 2nd harmonic distortion and no visible 3rd harmonic
distortion.

A classic tube preamp. Just buy it and you won't
regret. A perfect match with the BEL 1001 solid
state amplifier.

Hint: I found that Radio Shack used to sell the
exact volume pots replacement for a couple bucks.
I replaced them and they sound great! Probably
the old ones worn out. They are the cheap ALPS
brand. Please don't E-Mail me about this. Visit
Radio Shack stores yourself to find out more.

Strengths:
sweet, soundstage, bloom, muscicality

Weaknesses:
tube popcorn noise with some 6DJ8

Similar Products Used:
none

Summary:
Unbeatable value for a full-function all-tube preamp.

Strengths:
I fully agree with Duane. I love the Magus. I've bought and sold many highly regarded preamps (e.g. Krell, Audio Research, Threshold, Klyne) and never felt any withdrawal pains when I returned to the Magus. Matt is inaccurate, in that it has two line inputs, not just one. Also, it has an extra pair of RCAs for MC loading: I converted these to a third line in (the loading is now internal, and added two main outs as well, so I can bi- and even tri-amp. Indeed, the Magus is a tweakers delight: I replaced all point-to-point wiring with solid silver. All caps and resistors in the signal path are pretty high grade, but I suppose one could experiment here as well. The separate L and R gain + main volume control let you optimize the unit for any input and adjust balance without sending the music through an extra balance pot. The circuit is simple but very stable, and the unit cost me so little I could really splurge on rare NOS tubes (there are only four) with dramatic audible benefits. These units are hard to come by (I've never seen one on E-Bay in the six months I've been looking) so if you see one, grab it.

Weaknesses:
None —— although in this multimedia age, more inputs would be useful. If desired, however, more inputs could be installed (and the rotary selector modified accordingly) at negligible cost.

Summary:
I've owned a Magus for about 5 years now, and have been reasonably happy with the unit. The preamp has always sounded sweet and musical (with a truly magical midrange) even if, in comparision to the Sonic Frontiers Line 1 I recently had a chance to audition extensively, it lacks extension on both frequency extremes through the line stage and is, in truth, much less transparent. Also, the preamp supports only two inputs (one line, one phono) and a tape loop -- so if you're looking a preamp with a lot of inputs, you might want to considered another unit. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the virtues of the phono stage since I long since gave up my turntable. Tonally, the units splits the difference between classic tube sounding gear and more "accurate" designs such as Audio Research and Sonic Frontiers -- and provides, in my opinion, a very good balance. The unit has tons of gain: 28 dB through the linestage (and somewhere around 50+ through the phono). The Magus retailed for $995 in the late 80's, and can probably be had for about $350-$450 today -- which for a preamp with a phono stage and a magical midrange makes it an excellent value.

Summary:
Agree with Duane. It's still competitive with any $1000 tube preamp out there.I've had mine for 9 years, and it's been ultrareliable. Would give it a 4 to 4.5 on the basis that its noisefloor isn't quite enough for ultimate transparency,
Contrasted with the BrystonBP-20, it's not as transparent because of this, but a bit more lush sounding. Particularly good paired with solid amp that could use that kind of help.