Transcendent Sound gears

[chris9]

Has anyone heard of Transcendent Sound's Grounded Grid preamp? There have been so many raving reviews about this gear, but they are mostly written ages ago.


Since technoglogy keep improving and it's been over 10 years since the preamp has come to the market, could someone tell us if it's still the best performing preamp under the $500 mark?


I am a total newbie in DIY. I am thinking about buying it soon.


What power amp is good to pair with it?


THanks


Chris

[Feanor]

Has anyone heard of Transcendent Sound's Grounded Grid preamp? There have been so many raving reviews about this gear, but they are mostly written ages ago.

Since technoglogy keep improving and it's been over 10 years since the preamp has come to the market, could someone tell us if it's still the best performing preamp under the $500 mark?

I am a total newbie in DIY. I am thinking about buying it soon.

What power amp is good to pair with it?

THanks

Chris

I haven't heard the Transcendent so I don't have a personal opinion about the sound. However I do agree it has had good reviews over the years and there is no reason to believe that there have been large advances in tube circuit design that would obsolete the Transcendent.

The Transcendent has 2V output, input impedance of 50 kOhms, output impedance of 200 Ohms and hence should be able to drive virtually all power amps. Transcendent recommends their switch-on Mute Circuit if you are going to drive a solid state amp.

I can't bring to mind any other tube preamps I would say are "better" for $500, though there are some others, mostly DIY. There one or two by Bottlehead Audio, see HERE (http://bottlehead.com/preamplifiers/)

If you have no DIY experience, consider that building something like the Transcendent isn't a trivial matter. There are a few things to consider with any DIY kit:
Do you have basic soldering skills?
Is the the kit complete or do you have to buy various other parts to complete it?
Do you need testing equipment? Many require at least a digital multimeter
How complicated is the kit? Is it a single PC board vs. lots of point-to-point wiring?
How good are the assembly instructions? They can very from rudimentary and/or assume you have significant experience, or they can be exquisitly detailed with many photos, etc.
What guarantees does the maker provide that you successfully complete the project? Most offer no quarantees
Failing a quarantee of success, what forums or other types of support are available?
Are there physical dangers in construction if you aren't experienced, e.g. high voltages? Most tube preamps/amps have high voltages

[chris9]

Hi Feanor,

Thank you for your detailed response, esp the Bottlehead link.

Do you have any suggestion for the GG preamp?

I am using a pair of KEF c30 speakers by the way.

Thanks
Chris

[frenchmon]

Perhaps you should ask over at Audiokarma.org? There are those in the know.