my jaw dropped when i heard it

are you kidding? not for this price

if you want a pre amp, buy this one. if you don't have fun putting this together and listening to it i feel sorry for you.

Everything

None

I am speechless, dumbfounded.

I built this thing with all the mods from ET plus a few of my own.

I did not think music could be reproduced like this.

I am going to build another without all the inputs and selector switch and a single volume pot suchas ALPS or TDK. One in and one out with the other tweaks.

This little thing is beyond words.

Outstanding Sound, Great Company, Fun to Build

Audio Snobs will ignore because of low price ...

My System:

Pioneer DVD525 as source (+/- Audio Alchemy DAC)
Hafler XL280 Amp
Hafler 330 Tuner (kit built)
Dynaudio 2 way speakers homebuilt with CABE design
DH labs interconnect and spkr cables T-14.

I've sold audio, and am electrical engineer by degree. Always was somewhat skeptical of high end and of components that didn't seem to make scientific sense. Like preamps. If your CD or DVD player will drive your amp directly, why screw it up with another stage of amplification? A simple ladder attenuator and high quality switches, wiring and RCA's should give you a "perfect preamplifier". Thus, my prior passive preamp. Have to say that that puppy was still pretty good. Beat the heck out of any active designs under 2K. Very transparent, great bass, imaging etc ...

But, eventually became obvious to me that digital sound was getting somewhat fatiguing. Couldn't listen for hours like I used to do with albums. Tweaked the heck out of speakers - but they weren't the problem. Finally decided, what the heck, for about $300 (with mods) could build a little, simple tube preamp and see what all this nonlinear tube bs was all about.

Building the Foreplay was FUN. I mean it. The manual is great - as good as better as the old hafler instructions. It's obvious that DOC bottlehead (the company owner) has thought this through. Had one small problem near the end - posted message on the DOC's audio asylum board - and had about 8 helpful answers by end of day. Best of all was DOC - whe reassured me that if I couldn't debug the unit, he'd check it out for free ....

Like I said at the onset, all I wanted from this unit was a little warmth. I fully expected a loss of transient and spatial detail, which I was willing to live with.

BOY WAS I WRONG !!! Not only does the Foreplay add just a hind of needed warmth, the transient attacks are incredibly BETTER than with my passive preamp. Also, the bass has filled out nicely but fully, not bloated, quick. Finally, the biggest change is the width and depth of the image. WAY beyond the speakers' sides, and with a kind of hall sense I've not had in my system before.

I have to admit that I don't understand how this could be so... really the passive preamp should be better. But take my word for it, this is a significant improvement in sound at a very, very reasonable price. I've sold some pretty high end stuff, and I can't wait to take my foreplay to compare with some of the $2k to $10K preamps out there. I do not expect to be embarrassed. And not only that .... you build it yourself.

Doc is at www.bottlehead.com

Similar Products Used:

Wellborne labs passive preamp, Haffler Preamp (DH100 and 110)

Price

I recently got and built the foreplay pre amp with the anticipation upgrade and stepped attenuators. It works great. I was first concerned that adding another component in the signal path would degrade it but it in fact brought out sounds that I had never heard before. The sound stageing improved and the music (suprise suprise) sounded warmer.

P.S. All cool stereo stuff glows.

My system:
Marantz CD-67se
audioquest
FOREPLAY
homemade speakerwire
Paradigm Studio 60 v.2

Honest tube preamp for boombox price!

In stock form, bass could be tighter. Treble slightly rolled off. Limited number of inputs, no tape monitor, and only one set of outputs limit its flexibility. Do you CARE, for $149.00? Get real, here...

I've been using an FT Audio LW-1 passive pre, and have been really happy with it. Still I'd heard all about the Foreplay over at AudioAsylum, so when I saw one for sale (already assembled, yet!) for the princely sum of $175.00, I thought..."Why not?"
The gentleman who built it had a done an excellent job, and had made the following mods from bone-stock: 1.)Much bigger power supply caps. 2.)Replaced the dual hair-trigger volume pots with a single Alps pot. 3.)Sacrificed one of the inputs for a pair of toggle switches, for 2 gain settings. The lower gain setting is the one I prefer, it sounds like it's about 6-8db less than the standard 20db of gain.
Mind you, I haven't EVEN gotten around to tube rolling yet, so take that into consideration when I describe the sound. It comes with NOS 5965's, a low cost ruggedized plug in for 12AU7's, originally designed for computer use. Those in the know tell me this preamp becomes much better when you roll these out, roll some better 12Au7's in, like RCA Cleartops, or Mullards, or Amperexes.
It's got nothing to apologize for, even with its 'umble
5965's. Classic tube sound in spades. Rich, liquid midrange, treble sweet and fairly clean, slightly rolled off. Bass round and full, rather than tight. Could sound a bit tubby with ported speakers and low damping factor tube amp, I imagine. With my MMG's, it gave a pleasing fullness that sometimes could be almost too much of a good thing. Minor quibbles.
So how does it compare to my FT Audio LW-1, which I've raved about in these pages? In its(nearly)stock form, the Foreplay doesn't match the quickness,clarity, and neutrality of the LW-1. It sounds a little colored, a little slow in comparison. And yet, there was definitely a bit more sense of the musicians in the room with me with the Foreplay than with the LW-1. Slightly. I could happily live with either, truth be told. But here's the thing...you're talking about a $149.00 component here! I'm sure with better tubes, dampening of the chassis, better power cord, and all the mods available from Doc Bottlehead, this little pocket rocket could turned into a preamp eating monster! Even though I'm downright dangerous with a soldering iron, even I am tempted to get in there, do those mods. This thing is just so straight forward and simple, I think even I could do it. Plus, www.bottlehead.com is absolutely bristling with excellent documentation, and folks who are happy to help. There's never been more support for ANY kit, to my knowledge. This is obviously being put out there for the shear love of it-I don't see how Doc Bottlehead is even breaking even. We ought to support folks like this.
In closing, let me say this thing is a GAS to play with, and is so good, little, and cheap, you could use it for things you might not think of offhand. Someone mentioning using it with his computer soundcard...it could only help those nasty little things! I've got a Panasonic portable CDP plugged into my Foreplay, which in turn is driving an EarMax headphone amp. Talk about the mouse that roared...that 'umble little Panasonic is transformed! Just build it, and have FUN!

Similar Products Used:

Conrad Johnson PV10, MFA Magus A2

Price, Performance, Price, expandable

Hmmm, none really

I needed an inexpensive preamp and I found it. I was really suprised at how good it sounded. Take this pre and an audio source amp ($99 + $225) and you get a really nice base for a seperate system for under $350. It took me about 9 hours to put it together. Anyone can build this thing. It's also fun to impress your friends by telling them that you have a tube pre-amp!

Similar Products Used:

Haven't used any tube preamps before

Enjoyment gained from building your own gear
Enjoyment of building your own gear
Satisfaction gained from building your own gear; immense shock when said gear actually doesn't explode when plugged in; immense awe when said gear noticeably improves the sound coming from your system!

Thinking you can build anything now, i.e., computer, muscle car, bionic arm, etc.

I concur with all of the previous reviewers and will add a few comments. Even if you have a kilobuck preamp, you need to build yourself one of these things just for the fun of it. At a minimum, you will gain a better appreciation of what makes your preamp tick. Unfortunately, you may also realize that your high-end manufacturer is charging an awful lot for that fancy metal case, because your new $99 (price is now an ungodly $149!) preamp in your $5 wood box sounds so damn good.

How good? Scary good for the money. I'll go straight to the bottom line first. I just sold my entire high-end system to my friend, ironically just when I was most pleased with its performance. (Newform R645's, Rogue 66, Rotel 991, MSB Link DAC). However, I felt I was getting that familiar upgrade addiction and that the addiction was getting the upper hand. So I decided to chill out and purchase a less expensive interim system with musical enjoyment (vs. hi-fi-itis) being the primary goal. So I purchased a NAD C370, PSB Stratus Minis and a Sony CDP-CX450 400 CD carousel (all at substantial discounts). Unfortunately, the digital nasties were rearing their ugly heads rather severely (especially the below average DAC's in the Sony). Just as I was looking into outboard DAC's, single players, etc., my Foreplay kit arrived.

Put it together in an afternoon, survived the live voltage testing, and plugged it into the system. WOW! The Foreplay sounded noticeably better than the preamp section of the C370. The "hard" sound of the Sony Jukebox disappeared and glorious natural sounding music poured forth from the Stratus Minis. OK, I'm just fired up because I built the thing - let's get objective and hook the NAD preamp back up. Aghhhhh - the hardness is back. With the Foreplay in, I am completely satisfied with my system - it simply allows me to enjoy the music.

So how does it sound compared to the Rogue 66? Memory tells me the Rogue was more detailed, had tighter bass, and was razor fast. It was closer to the "absolute sound". It also was brutally honest poor recordings and revealed problems with great recordings, i.e., sibilance. When the planets were aligned, the old system could sound magical, but how often is everything right? My system now is about a third of the price as my old system. Before the $99 Foreplay, I missed my old system. Now I don't. Well, I do miss the Newforms - they are the best speaker I have personally heard and I've heard quite a lot. In fact, I intend to build a pair of those in the near future.

I've now ordered the "Whole Deal" Foreplay which has an upgraded power supply circuit and stepped attenuators. I have a sneaky feeling that the upgraded Foreplay may be less forgiving of the Sony's DAC - so I may need to get another MSB. I also ordered a pair of the Paramour Monoblocks, so I'll need to investigate high efficiency speakers like the Straight 8, Lowthers, etc.

The stock Foreplay isn't perfect -- Doc B. and the staff aren't miracle workers. There is quite a bit of 60Hz hum near the speakers; the dual volume pots are extremely touchy, and I get a rather loud pop if I don't follow traditional power-up protocol. Many of these problems can be resolved -- I've just been too happy to worry about them yet. How often do you hear an audiophile say that?

As I noted at the beginning, I think every audiophile should build a Foreplay. When you realize what $99 can get you, you might want to lift the lid on that $5000 preamp just to see what you are getting.

This is an obvious 5 star value rating, being both a laughable bargain and a giant killer
Overall, I'm giving the product 5 stars since it was far better than I imagined.

Feel free to email me with any questions, comments or suggestions.

Thanks,
Mike

Similar Products Used:

Rogue 66

Tonal Balance & Bang-for-the-Buck

Volume knob sensitivity

Not a perfect pre-amp, but hands down the best $100 I've spent on audio equipment -- ever.

The designer of this product intended it to be a kit that would serve as an introduction to those with an interest in DIY audio looking for a project to get them started. I'll liken the foreplay to the now famous Dynaco ST70 in this regard, because both of them began life as cost-conscious kits for expiramentors and have come to be regarded well purely based on their acoustic prowess. Not to be maudlin, but come on now -- honestly -- how much would you pay for a never-opened ST70 kit and a free weekend to assemble it? If the answer is "a lot" then bookmark this page - go order the Foreplay - and come back to read the rest of this review.

The basic kit will run you ~$99 plus shipping. If I remember correctly, what you get is a pre-drilled brushed aluminum plate and the L's, C's, R's, Pots, connectors & Tubes to assemble the guts of the amp. For a few extra dollars you can get some pre-cut poplar boards which you can glue together & paint to achieve a basic cabinet. The poplar cabinet is nothing to scream about; it is intended to be there as a lifesaver for "tool-challenged individuals" Fortunately my other diversion is woodworking so I made a cabinet from a wonderful piece of darkly-figured Jatoba that I had around the shop and the result was well worth the added effort.

Acoustically the preamp is warm but not innacurate. I've hooked it up to multiple tube and solid state amps ranging from $200 to $4,000 dollars and have not found it to be out of its league on any audition. There are two caveats. One is that the volume pots are cheezy. They're not bad sounding, but they have a tendencey to crank the volume up in the first quarter-turn and the feel is somewhat cheezy with no detenuation etc... They're undoubtedly one of the places where the design had to be compromized to hit the $99 price point. Electronic Tonalities offers stepped attenuator kits for ? $40 ? or just buy some decent audio-taper pots from Digikey/Mouser etal. Also, the bass is not as well defined as it could be. Let me qualify that -- I've A-to-B tested this preamp against some pretty nice equipment and I'm not saying it has horrible bass, but it could have more resolution and thwak on a string-bass. Again, this was probably a place for compromise to get to the pricepoint. In fact, Electronic Tonalities offers a $70 kit to upgrade the power supply to cure this minor weakness.

In the final analysis, you simply cannot buy a better tube frontend on a tight budget. If you're not a starving student and you can afford to add the $70 power supply upgrade and a couple of decent volume pots for $12-$18, you're well beyond "budget-hifi" without even having spent $200. If anyone gives you grief about owning a $200 pre-amp -- offer to bring it over to their house for a blind A-to-B listening comparison. You'll leave them stammering.

Similar Products Used:

Various Tube Front-ends

Value to price ratio, great sound, tweaker's delight.

None that you can't remedy with minimal added investment.

This preamp is mighty, mighty good. Hundreds, if not more, of these things have been built by folks all over the planet. Not many show up on the used market, hint hint.

Let me make a few things clear: I'm not a golden ear-- I have strong empiricist leanings. I trust the data of my senses, but not completely-- I appreciate more than most the power of suggestion. I look askance at the "obvious benefits" of silver solder, expensive wire, and magic speaker pucks. I'm also not a tube freak-- my amplification is solid state, and my DIY speakers require more than 3 watts of glorious single ended power :). My feelings for the foreplay come not from the inherent superiority of glass but from the sounds this preamp produces.

While we're being honest, let's also recognize that audiophiles willing to drop 1k+ on individual components won't be reading this. If you get perverse pleasure from the idea that you can skip a few dinners out and build something that will deliver the same high quality performance, read on.

If you're willing to practice your soldering technique for a few days before your kit arrives, you can build a Foreplay. Seriously. The documentation is step by step, falling off a log, hit you over the head, drop-dead obvious in its detail. To call it exhaustive puts too fine a point on it; you can know nothing about electronic circuits and get this thing singing. If you experience even the slightest obstacle along the way, there is an army of Bottleheads one click away who will get you back on track.

For most people, the finished product performs flawlessly-- you're done. If you find the Foreplay delivers too much gain (mentioned in a review below), there are readily available (and cheap) solutions. If you experience noise in your system, there are fixes for that. If you want to squeeze out more performance, there are a number of upgrade paths, all of them affordable-- and you can explore them as your interest and wallet allow.

This is the real best-kept secret among Bottleheads-- Doc B's got something that no company "customer service" can match. Electronic Tonalities is its own homegrown community, full of imagination and expertise, every member pursuing the best sound possible. Bottleheads will help you to realize your sonic goals.

The price of admission to the club is only $100-- as an added bonus, Doc B will throw in what is likely to be the best preamp you've heard to date in your system.

Excellent sound quality for the price.

Are you kidding for this price?

I was intrigued by the rave reviews and loyal following of Foreplay users at the Bottlehead Forum so for $149 I gave it a try. For my first venture in DIY hi-fi it went relatively well but all through the construction process I kept wondering if this pile of parts was even going to work when done. From the first notes of "Take Five" I could immediately tell the difference from my old preamp! The cymbals and drum kit actually sounded real now with much more air around each instrument. The alto sax had more punch and was smoother and better defined. All the digital "edge" was gone and the whole presentation was less strained and strident and more musical. "Robust" is the best way I can describe this little wonder.

Imaging was also much wider with sound appearing well outside the speakers at each side. This is also an extremely quiet pre-amp. Even with both volume controls at 100% a very slight hiss is only noticeable with your ear up to the speaker! Quiet passages are now much clearer now. My MMG's have lost their bright edge and are much sweeter. This preamp will definitely tame the digital beasties and is heaven with vinyl.

I'm now looking forward to the Constant Current Source upgrade and tube rolling. The ability to tweak this little puppy is definitely addictive! Give it a try--it's the best value around for the price, period.