I bought this preamp along with a 9180 amplifier. I'm amazed that something that's 25 year old can sound so good. Clean quiet and on the warmer side, but still has great detail. Build quality is much higher than other preamps from this era like Adcom, Acurus, and Parasound. Sound quality is also comparable to the higher end lines from Adcom and Parasound. Acurus preamps aren't the most accurate and suffer from noise compared to the Hafler.

Probably still a good option if you have a $200-$300 budget. But I would avoid equipment with cosmetic damage. The 915 sold for around $700 new in 1991 so price adjusted for inflation that would be around $1300 in 2017.

for the used price preamplifier it's a steal the preamplifier overall warm sound and musicality also hafler itis reliability for long life pream and the amps i am use simaudio w3 nice combination

Very quiet, warm, full bodied sounding preamplifier with professional build, solid controls and a wonderful volume control that provides a balanced sound at the lowest levels.
Especially outstanding MM/MC phono stage that is exceptionally clear.
Tone control circuitry is very good, doesn't add any any distortion and actually usable to tweak recordings without adding any distortion.
Compared to much more expensive preamps I've owned, it is not the most detailed, but it has a wonderful, musical and captivating sound.
Highly recommended.

Small, handsome, quiet s/n, enough inputs, iec socket to upgrade power cords (does make a difference with this preamp), headphone jack, smartly designed tone controls, reasonable transparent (for the money), fast sounding, very inexpensive used

Lacking some of the soundstage and air of better preamps, no phono (optional on 915), probably would benefit greatly from beefier outboard power supply

I had sworn off solid state preamps after buying a Dynaco PAS-4 a year ago. It ended the nasty digit-itis I was suffering from. Funny think tho, as I upgraded my CD front end to an MSB Link 3, 192 K output from my player, beefier power supply and some upgrade power cords I found my old Superphon Revelation Dual Mono was sounding better. Once upgraded, I started to prefer it over the tube Dynaco. Even after sending to Stan Warren for BlackGate cap upgrade, it was a bit hard sounding, though dynamics and resolution were great. I bought the Hafler Series 915 cause it was cheap, I was intrigued by it's Class A JFet design and it had a headphone output. Darn,if it isn't the cat's meow! - quiet, easy to listen to, flexible, just a joy for so little money. Why is it so good...I'll let Andy Szabo of Acoustat fame answer that... >

Similar Products Used:

Dynaco PAS-3, Dynaco PAS-4, Conrad Johnson Sonograph SC-22, NAD 3020, Superphon Revelation Dual Mono (with upgrades)

A straight forward well made product with good design & quality components.. Good sound stage, S/N ratio & dynamics..

Ok, there is one, using the tone controls to raise bass output sucks.. If your speakers are bass shy, get an equalizer or better speakers.. Otherwise this puppy is great..

I bought the 915 new without hearing it before-hand because over the years I''ve grown to trust Hafler products.. I don''t know what kind of fence posts the guys that give this preamp a poor review are/were using for speakers or what brand of amp they had in their system.. It is obvious there was a mismatch somewhere.. The 915 was described as having a tubular sound which I took with a grain of salt before buying but in this case it''s true.. There is not one hair of difference in the soundstage or qualities between it & a Sonic Frontiers-1 that I have in my system at present.. Match this preamp with either a Hafler XL series or a B&K amp in the wattage you prefer and you will have it all...period..

Similar Products Used:

In 30 years almost everything in reason on a $ensible $ound budget...

Hafler did go back to the drawing board. They got out of home audio altogether. Sure you can still buy the 9505 but if you check the web its all about studio now.(Hafler''s roots) I own a 9270 and its done me well. Definitely better than ANY Adcom amp. But I would look elsewhere for solid home audio equipment.

Detailed, Transparent, Clear, and energetic. Airy and fast.
Class A, tons of inputs and two outputs. Great headphone amp. High quality parts used.

Tone controls are not that great but thats o.k. because I do not use them. It does not sound better than it sounds :) but hey! Nothing does. (confusing huh!)

Sounds very good. It adds speed to my tubey amplifier.
The timing is precise and it makes me happy. A perfect match for my system. It's a keeper. I have had no problems w/ it and Hafler is very friendly and has answered all my questions promptly. It is a good value and for me: Reccomended!

Speed, Bass, Attach of Music

Small Sound Stage, Loss of Air on Top

I need a preamp to fill in for my McCormack which is going to the shop, for a repair ( first in 6 years. ) So, I purchase the Hafler 915. Comparing the Hafler to McCormack, was very interesting, since they both are fast, and have good bass.

But, that were it ends, I thought the McCormack was wide in forward, with a touch of air, that would give the sense of Live Music Feel... When switch back to the Hafler, I saw the sound was narrow, and not forward, but laid back, with a loss of that high air sense.

I heard that there are some mods for this preamp.. that may be a good way to go, to improve sound stage.

The Pieces of Music I used, was DIDO, I no angel.
Track # 8, 9, 10,

The Hafler does a good job, but its not close to the McCormack ALD-1.

This preamp is very clean, fast, and dynamic. It runs in class A and uses excellant parts. Iave no urge to "upgrade" . Iwish it had acontinuous volume control because there is too much change in voume between the click stops. and balanced outputs wold be nice. It does have 2 outputs, however. Unbeatable even when it used to cost 750.

transparent.