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Review 5 of 25
Price Paid:
$499.00
from Transcendent Sound w Summary:
I've had my Grounded Grid preamp for about a month now, and I am absolutely delighted with it. I purchased the kit unheard and with some trepidation, but was able to build it in about 6-7 easy hours. I haven't soldered anything more complicated than a few speaker cables and lamp cords for years now, but had no trouble at all with this kit. The instructions and photographs are very clear, the parts well organized and the boards very well marked and laid out. I haven't built a kit since I helped my Dad put together a Heathkit voltmeter back in the 70's, but never felt unsure of myself thanks to the excellent directions provided.
After triple-checking my work, I closed up the case, plugged in in and tried it out after a short warm-up. I was unable to remove a serious S...-eating grin from my face for the next couple of hours. It was a marked improvement on my Mac C712 or TA-P9000ES, which I was (and am still) very happy with for other uses.
I am using a Jolida JD100 CD and a Marantz DV8400 SACD/DVD player as line sources, with a Mesa Baron 5881 and a pair of Maggie 1.6QRs on the business end. The GG brought out small details that I didn't know I had been missing, while at the same time removing the hard edge to cymbals, vocal sybilants, and brass that I had noticed from time to time with my Mac and TAP. The treble didn't sound soft or rolled-off at all, just more "live" and less fatiguing. Midrange and bass are fast and accurate, and the whole thing is dead quiet. I listen to everything from electronica to blues and classical, and it does very well on all of it.
My Baron is very input-sensitive, and I had assumed I would have to put up with more noise by moving to a tube pre that didn't cost me all of my play money for a few months. NOT the case! I normally listen at 85-90 dB, with the Grid's volume pot at only the 7:30 or 8 o'clock position. I have to turn the pot all the way to 1 or 2 o'clock before I get any detectable noise out of my speaks with my ear a foot away. I'm sure if any signal hit them at this level, my Maggies would shred almost as quickly as my eardrums.
I can't claim to have demo'ed a wide range of other preamp options in my home system, but as an audio junkie, I never pass up the chance to listen to good gear at a dealer or fellow enthusiast's place. I was, and remain, VERY impressed with the performance of the Grid, especially at this price. With Maggies, I prefer it to any of the sub-$3k SS preamps I've listened to (Rotel, Adcom, NAD, Arcam, Audio Refinement, Sunfire, Parasound, B&K, Classe, Mac, etc.). The only preamps that I've heard that I prefer to the GG with my Magnepans are some of the Audio Research, Sonic Frontiers, Lamm and other pre's costing a few thousand more. Even then, the differences were small, and on my budget, I'd prefer to spend the difference on a couple of hundred recordings. I've never heard the GG with dynamic or horn speakers, but I don't think my opinion would be any different. That's a moot point for me, anyway, since I can't see giving up my Maggies except to trade up to another set.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a trio of new Yugoslavian Ei 12AU7s included with the kit. I was expecting to find some cheaper Sino tubes that I'd be tempted to replace immediately. I've read that the Ei tubes can be pretty microphonic, but I haven't been able to detect anything of the kind in this application.
Another advantage of the simplicity of the Grid's design is that you could easily change out components such as pots, selector switches, and caps. So far, I see no reason to, although Bruce Rozenblit's step attenuator is intriguing because of it's sensitivity at low levels. I'm sure you could easily put Alps, DACT, or other upgrades in if you felt the need to tweak. I've come across a fair number of articles on discussion boards about how to add tape outs, extra inputs, and other tweaks I might be tempted to try out. There is plenty of space to do so, and you won't need an engineering degree or the manual dexterity of a Persian carpet weaver to lay it out, either.
The only other comment I have is thanks for Bruce Rozenblit's customer service. As others have mentioned, I'm pretty sure it's a one-man shop, since I got the man himself on the phone when I called to check on my order. It had been about three weeks since I had placed it, I was going on business travel for a few weeks, and was concerned that it would arrive and sit on my front porch in the salt air while I was away. Bruce was very friendly (and busy), and the well-boxed kit arrived a few days after my "hurry up, please" request. Thanks!
Note: The kit doesn't come with solder, so make sure to get some beforehand. I still had some Cardas quadeutetic from for the aforementioned speaker cable project, so I lucked out. I wouldn't go with water-soluble flux, since I bet the power supplies wouldn't take too kindly to being washed after you finish. Strengths:
Speed, detail, low noise, soundstage.
You can brag about how you built it, and mod it easily if you get the urge. If you don't want to go the DIY route, you can buy it pre-assembled for an extra 300 clams. I don't make $300 bucks for 7 hours of my time on a weekday evening (or any other time, for that matter), so for my money, building it yourself is a great deal. Weaknesses:
It's a kit, so you could mess it up if you tried.
The case is kind of "bulldog ugly" when compared to high-end gear. The face sure ain't pretty, but it DOES look like it means business. It is probably narrower than the rest of your gear, so if that bothers you, you'd have to bodge together a more "standard" faceplate.
No remote, so you'll actually have to get off your butt to change sources and volume. Consider it part of your de-couch-spudification program, if it makes you feel better.
There is no phono section (Transcendent sells a stand-alone), tape out, or second line out. Only 3 stereo inputs. These issues could be "fixed" with a little ingenuity.
Wait... Here's an actual complaint! The power-on LED doesn't seat well in the faceplate, and seems a little dim in a lighted room when seen from the side. The instructions say you could use a little contact cement to fix that, and you could always get a different LED at Radio Scrap. However, if you don't have any, it is 10PM and you want to finish up that evening, you're stuck with it until you can get to the store the next day. That's really all I have to kvetch about, so this might actually work out as a compliment. Similar Products Used:
Owned: Mac C712, Sony TA-P9000ES, B&K PT3, Proton 1100, Jolida 202a and 302a integrated amps, Yamaha RX-V1200 HT receiver preamp section.
Store demos: A range of Rotel, Adcom, NAD, Parasound, Audio Refinement, Mac, Audio Research, Sonic Frontiers, and other SS & tube preamps.
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