I found a good deal for this preamp which was very popular when DPL was the only surround sound format. In case I buy it, I will not be using these for home theater but only for two channel stereo.
How is the performance of this preamp when hooked up with Adcom GFA555 MKII and used as stereo? Speakers are a pair of B&W 703.
The experts here may have some input of the general performance.
As I recall the Proceed PAV was an analog unit. If all you want to do is play stereo than I am sure it is great. As Harman Kardon bought Proceed, if you ever wanted to upgrade this preamp it will cost a fortune, like somewhere around $4,000. So it would only pay to buy this preamp if you get it at a cheap price (no more than $750) and have no future digital intentions for it.
There are a lot of good used preamps at Audiogon.com. that are less than $1,000 and even under $500.
If I just wanted a simple stereo preamp with better specs and performance than any other I would get a Morrison ELAD (which is basically a straight line preamp with only two inputs). If I needed more inputs there are switchers that you could hook into the unit. But to my knowledge there isn't a preamp that has ever met the specs of the Morrison ELAD. It has the great Analog Devices Op Amps and separate volume controls enable it to have optimal stereo separation and its high quality simple circuitry without ANY capacitors allows for incredibly low distortion and great S/N ratio. I think this unit costs around $800 new (which is unbelievable)and about $500 used. But this unit won't improve or degrade the source sound. It will sound exactly like the source. So if you want manipulation or colorization of sound--this is not the preamp for you.
People who buy the Morrison ELAD new buy it direct from Don Morrison.
wazoo, I have owned and used Proceed gear for many years, and currently use a APV. The Proceed PAV will sound wonderful for 2 channel stereo. Keep in mind Gman makes a very good point. Future upgrade doesn't make a lot of sense with this unit. By the time you did you could find an APV or Lexicon pre-owned much less costly. Good luck.
wazoo
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I have the reviews about this Morrison ELAD and it indeed is excellent based on the reviews. However, I would still want some of the experiences of the experts here regarding this ELAD.
When I lived in NJ (before 1995)a friend of my brothers had a Morrison ELAD and two monoblock Bryston amps connected to a pair of ProAc Response 3's. The stereo separation was the best I have ever heard, which was not suprising due to the monoblocks and the incredible separation specs of the ELAD. The ELAD has better specs than the cd player or the phonograph. It has no noise and is sheer simplicity. What keeps the separation high is the total separation of the volume circuits with no balance control. Now there aren't any extra functions of this preamp.It is meant for the highest quality stereo sound from two sources. You can buy an add-on for extra sources. But you cannot manipulate the sound. It just gives you the best sound that your source and amp is able to give.
If you want extra functions like preamp record and such, this is not the preamp for you. If you just want to listen to the best stereo that your equipment is capable of giving, there is none better.
Anonymous
Posted on
I go by the moniker "audio idiot", because I am. Or was. Now I'm an "audio recognize-my-betters". Do be sure you know who knows more than you do before you spend your money. It's your money.
I purchased the elad after looking for an amp that would function in dire conditions (my garage) and Mr. Morrison set me up with his elad and a Bryston sst3. Told this kind guy, right out of the box, price is no object. I want the Hubble and the Humvee of audio in one product; the best and the most brutish. After he taught me you can't get everything (remote? balance? equalizer? "that's not about the signal") in one UPS box, I bought the elad. For the record, I also spoke w/one of Bryston's engineers, and their production guy, to make sure that the sst was OK for my garage. Answer: "if you can push or abuse the amp harder than the rock musicians or recording engineers we've sold to for 20 years, do get in touch with us...." And, also for the record, they speak of Don in, well, hushed tones.
SOLD. Here's the credit card #; ship at your earliest convenience.
Only looking back I'm doing is looking around in the high-end mags, with the prattle about this-that-and-the-other tube amps, and I'm glad China's wrapping wires in vacuum packed glass, it's a good thing for them. And I know they do it in East Germany, and Poland, etc., so why do YOU think "tube amps" are all the rage?
Anybody my age remembers when every "good" drugstore had a "tube tester". Remember that? But have you got a scope in your 'listening room' or garage? How the he$$ do you know what the tubes are doing? Do you know what they're supposed to be doing? Do you understand thermionic induction (tubes) or how a transistor works (like the basics--Bell Labs, early 60's? Field, grid, etc.?) Well, neither do I except at a gross, industrial history level. Well, I actually understand it a little better than that, and believe Mr. Morrison is right.
Well there's the snotty editorial. A lot of really well-heeled people out there buying high-priced stuff with nothing like the music anchoring their ears -- for example, a brain.
Using both the elad and the Bryston for over two years. I guess about 2600 US, all in w/shipping. Bryston warranty is 20 years (I'll be dead, or will have given it to my brother) and the elad, well, I'm buying another one.
Don will not live forever, but just like people buy those used Mac amps for the pretty little glow, people will be buying the elads long after I'm gone.
I'm giving a new elad to my son, in the box, w/the bubble wrap, with just this condition: you can't sell it. You gotta listen to it. When he does, the source signals will be better than I can imagine (ray charles: they'll learn more than I'll ever know, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world...")
Boys, it's that good. It's better than that. Girls, tell the boys to buy two of these, and get over the macho gear hangup, and wire one up for the kitchen. Listen to Cheryl Crow, Toby Keith, Vivaldi, whatever. It's supposed to be about the music (OK, not only music: listen to MLK's "I have a Dream" on this system).
The equipment that amplifies the source should be like Zen or Mother Theresa: you look for the influence, and can't find it. It's just an invisble part of the process. Isn't that why you're listening? Let the process go to zero. Prattle less; listen more. Talk less; think more.