1) A preamp shall have right Sound. I would not even comment on it. A preamp shall sound better then any other source a system has. 2) A preamp shall have a remote control. I have expressed a well found view that a Remote Control is an ultimate enemy… but if you sell a preamp for $50K and with no remote control then you did not try very hard. The Remote Control shell be for volume, lines switching and phase inversion. 3) A preamp shall have multiple configurable Inputs that all sound the same. Come on! A person who runs just a CD player would not buy the “Ultimate Preamplifier” for $30K or $70K. It is obviously that the Ultimate Preamp will be incorporated into more or less evolved installation that most likely will have multiple objectives. So, I feel 5-6 Inputs is absolutely mandatory for an Ultimate Preamp. I would like to have option to configure how many inputs I would have. My current Preamp has 11, I think it is too much for general use but 5-6 Inputs with extendibility to 7-9 I think does make since. An ability to set a drop for a few DB for a few inputs is also would be useful. 4) A preamp shall not have digital volume control – digital can’t filter or attenuate 5) A preamp shall not have a lot of gain. I presume that a person who would go for $30K or $70K Ultimate Preamplifier would not be a fool and all moments of matching gain with sensitivity of speakers will be resolved on amplifiers level. So, most of the time the Ultimate Preamplifier will be attenuating of working near a unity gain. 6) A preamplifier shall be active. Restive of inactive preamps are fine for $500 preamplifier and for $2000 worth loudspeakers. 7) A preamplifier shall have a headphone output. I do not ask about a great one but it shall be one and it costs nothing to implement. 8) A preamplifier shall have output impedance of sub 100R and shall be able to put out a lot of current. 9) A preamplifier shall have at 2 least RIAA inputs. There is no reason do not integrate a 50-80dB gain phonostage into a preamp as it allow to optimize sages and make the whole phono operation very comfortable 10) A preamplifier shall have 0.1K, 1K and 10K generator aboard. 11) A preamplifier shall have a hard-wired bypass switch. 12) A preamplifier shall have multiple configurable options for grounding layout and shall have a shared across all inputs and outputs, very massive cooper bass terminal. 13) A preamplifier shall have multiple outputs, 2-3 is OK. 14) A preamplifier shall not use vacuum tubes as output devises. Come on, get real! No one yet built an absolutely transparent tubes buffer. The output stages of an Ultimate preamplifier shall be DC-coupled SS devise. 15) A preamplifier shall have an absolute phase inversion option. That is all for now.
The Cat |