I've bought it in some way casually since I was searching for a balanced pre to match to my Electrocompaniet AW220 power amp (did you ever hear it? I'm sure you will be surprised...) and I found it on the used market for few euros. I said to myself, I will not regret if it doesn't sound at least decently. I connected it as you can do a normal routine, nothing to pay attention to, then chose the first song (Miles, of course....) and I was immediatly amazed! This is really really really an high value pre with all the features that high end pre have, natural, trasparent, harmonical, with an amazing reconstruction of the acoustic scene. Really amazing!
I want to underline that I have great experience with high end tools, considering that as pre I owned a lot of gears, i.e. Klimo Merlin, McIntosh C500 (2chassis), Mark Levinson 38 and 380 ecc. and this almost unknown Proceed pre seems to have get the best characteristics of all of these.
Really 5 stars for the great sound, considering also the little price you can find on the used market (at least here in Italy).
Finally I suggest a complete recapping of the power supply, I've asked my favourite lab to do it, with no economy choosing the new caps, and it really reward your money!
Highly recommended, if you find it on the used market, buy it, you will not regret your choice!

Soundstage, build, flexibility

Can't find any

This is probably one of the best bargains out there. I have owned many preamps, and this one outdoes them all in every way. Soundstage and tonal accuracy are simply amazing. This unit's ability to define instrument position, and portray vocal realism is astounding. I am sure there are better units out there, but for the price I haven't founf any contenders as yet. Under the hood reveals top notch build quality I have only yet found on a Spectral I used to own. This preamp has some features I have not yet encountered such as being able to set the input level of each input independantly to match different equipment output levels. Fully programmable, and nicely layed out remote is nice too. If you are looking for a much better than average preamp but don't want to pay for it, I highly recommend finding one of these.

Similar Products Used:

Spectral, Classe', Parasound

Ease of use, intelligent volume when switching inputs, built quality, very modern minimalistic looks and ofcourse sound: could hardly tell the difference with Mark levinson ML 38, twice the price!

Too good a product, therefor no longer in production...

I was looking for an upgrade from my Bryston bp-25 (at the price also brilliant). The Proceed provided this at minimal cost. The sound is perhaps a tiny bit less warm but at the same time more revealing. Easy of use is unsurpassed even for a model now about six years old. everything is remote controllable and it has a Unity Gain for Home Theatre bypass.I also love the user definable input gain (let's you compensate for volume difference between sources) which comes in especially handy with a fully balanced DAC connected via XLR. Çouldnt do that with my BP-25 and believe my fully balanced via XLR has twice as much volume! (Bryston then has a problem with the balance at low attenuation because of the Alps volume control they employ)

Similar Products Used:

Bryston BP-25

Flexibility, soundstaging, clarity

none

I'm surprised to find that there haven't been more reviews for this product. In my system I've found it to be an exceptional performer, contributing greatly to the imagery and dynamics. Everything about this product oozes quality, and especially since you can pick one up on the used market for practically nothing, it's an unbeatable deal. I was originally thinking about going into tubes (BAT VK3i, CJ) but after hearing this pre I've lost that urge. When they say it's the baby brother of the Levinson pre's, I believe it. I'm currently using it with the proceed amp2, another great product. These two pieces will be staying in my system for a really long time.

Purity of sound, extremely hi-tech, true wide band response.

None really, fairly high price but worth every cent!

I must say, that I was rather happy with my 'old' Audio
Research SP-5 pre, the sound was warm and inviting, you
could listen to the system for hours, without any fatigue.
The only thing that was not there was a remote...and this is
important (at least it is to me), as adjusting the volume
to a 'perfect' level requires you to go back and forth to the pre amp, until you satisfy your ears.
So, off I went to my friendly Audio Dealer (AUDIO CONNECTION of Sydney Australia), cursing myself as I had to carry my THRESHOLD S-200 Stasis A/AB, to make sure whatever I was going to listen to, was matching this 'monster'.
The PROCEED PRE was sitting there and attracted my attention straight away, no wonder this thing comes from MADRIGAL LABS. the makers of MARK LEVINSON stuff.
Soon as it was connected and one of my 'reference' C.D's was loaded in, I realised that this 'thing' was something exceptional, in every sense of the word.
Compared to the AUDIO RESEARCH SP 5, the difference was hard to believe, there's no way in a blind test you could confuse the two...
It seemed to me that, the PRE opened a new window into the music, where the spectrum of frequencies was much wider, in essence bothe ends of the audible sounds were extended.
Clearer treble on one end and deeper but not boomy base, on the other.
Instruments were clearly identifiable and located in the huge sound stage, and you could actually follow the 'score' in what was sung, in some of my favourite Opera Arias.
With all due respect to Audio Research, the SP 5 did not stand a chance against this thing.
To be fair, the SP 5 is an older product and it is somewhat unfair to compare it, with this marvel of tehcnology.
The match with the THRESHOLD was magic, and it didn't take me long, to make my mind up!
It has been sitting here on my set up since, and I have found that while before when I listened to music late at night (mainly Classical or Baroque) I was also reading something, now the music has a new 'focus', and demands my attention more, so no more reading...
You may think '..ah, this is in your face, type of presentation..'.
No, not at all.
It rather has something to do, with quality and purity of sound, that makes you stop whatever you doing, and pay attention to the music.
Build is to a very high standard, the remote is rather easy to learn and use, and I think that I have found a 'soulmate' in this product, that will serve me for a fairly long time.
What's more, it has the facility to drive a home theatre amplifier, if this is your thing, so it is quite an advanced piece of equipment, other than a brilliant preamplifier.

I honestly recomend this product as an outstanding performer and if you can afford the price, do yourself a favour and have a listen to it...you also, will be 'hooked'!
You have been warned!

Similar Products Used:

Audiolab 8000 Q , Audio Research SP-5.

Great sound, looks and home theater friendly

a little hard sounding

I think that this pre-amp is great.
I sold hi-fi for 5 years and this is theone I chose.
One of my main, non-sound criterea was having a functional way to run my home theater through my main 2 front channels without putting anything new in to my audio path. This preamp handles this perfectly by allowing one of the outputs to be switched to a unity gain mode that feeds the signal from my surround preamp straight through to my front channel amps. The sound is great and the interface is clean and intuitive. It is also built like a tank and I'm sure will last forever.
I was completely open to the options that were mucj more expensive but none of them offered the sound and flexibility of the Pre. It is a high end stereo preamp that can also accomodate a sophisticated hom ethater set up.

Similar Products Used:

proceed amp3

1) Tape loop that allows bypass of volume control so that an external surround processor can be connected, 2) Learning remote, 3) Digital readout of volume for precise settings from a distance, 4) balanced or single-ended operation for many of its inputs/outputs.

It could use one or two more inputs. (I'm nitpicking here.)

If you're looking for a flexible preamp that will deliver accurate sound then the Proceed Pre is for you. I've been using this unit for well over a year now, and I am more than pleased. It has operated without one glitch during this time, and I forsee no problems in the future.

As far as the sound goes, this is pretty much a product that tells it like it is. This is not one of those solid-state preamps that try to be a tube preamp. Your sows-ear recordings will retain their sows-ear credentials. On the other hand, the Proceed Pre manages to avoid the zippy hifi sound of other so-called revealing preamps. Therefore, images in the soundstage will be portrayed as part of said soundstage--not apart from it. The depth and width are realistically portrayed with all instruments arrayed within.

In comparison with my prior preamps, the Pre exhibits a more refined presentation in that the top octave or so is clean and concise. Where the Adcom GFP 555 was somewhat brash and forward the Pre is more level headed and matter-of-fact. The midrange follows a similar path in both preamps. Where the Adcom could sound slightly bright and in your face when played at a high level the Pre retains its composure. Voices sound wonderful through the Pre into my Hales Revelation Three speakers via a Proceed Amp 2.

Finally, in comparison with the Counterpoint Solid 8, the Pre is just a better constructed product. The volume control on the Counterpoint mistracks between channels at lower settings while the Pre is dead on. Basically, the Pre had more to offer ergonmically speaking. And too, there were some subtle improvements in performance when the Pre was inserted in the playback chain--these being slightly more soundstage depth and breadth and more air around the treble frequencies. Cymbals were set back somewhat in comparison to the Counterpoint's more upfront representation. The differences between these two preamps were much less pronounced than the differences between the Adcom and the Pre.

Finally, I must say something about the rating system on this site. Basically, it is too coarse. I'd love to give the Pre five stars for both performance and value, but I know that there are even better products out there. Still, the Pre rates better than 4 stars for either criteria. This is a very good product, but it is not state-of-the-art. Decisions. Decisions. Oh, to hell with it. 5 stars all around.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFP 555 and Counterpoint Solid 8 preamp