Hattor Pre-amp Inbound

to equalize the vinyl and digital source volumes, you might try moving the dac8 dsd analog out slide switch to "VRLB" from "FIXED" and then use the volume controls as a means of lowering the output level to be more in line with that of your vinyl.

i have not noticed any SQ impact of using the VRBL setting on the few occasions i have tried it.
 
Yea, I know I can do this, and have thought about it. I have been using it in FIXED mode which literally stops the signal from even going through the volume circuit. I know it probably will make no difference in performance because of how good T+A is, but I figured they designed it to by pass the circuit entirely for a reason. The McIntosh has a similar control on the rear of the unit.

The Hattor is so revealing that small changes become instantly apparent. I was actually surprised at how obviously the Rothwell affected the sound. I have never heard a difference in performance using the Rothwell's before :).

... ok, I gave this a try. As suspected T+A always does things the right way! I did not notice a quality depreciation using the built in circuit within the DAC 8 DSD.

I did a very good comparison between digital and vinyl I might add. I used Shelby Lynne Just A Little Lovin for this comparison. I have the DSD download, one of the absolute best examples of DSD in my view, and ran through Roon and HQ Player at 24.6 Mhz. I also have a 200g 45 RPM pressing for the vinyl in the comparison. Again absolutely fantastic!

They were very close. Overall I am going to give a very tiny advantage to the vinyl, with a small caveat. The bass was slightly tighter and the top high end was ever so slightly more present. Very small subtle differences, but also some surface noise (ever so slight pops and clicks) and of course the cleaning factor. Also flipping/exchanging the album every 2-3 songs. To me they are both fantastic but different and this even more proved the point. Deal with the caveats versus ease for an incredibly subtle change/improvement.

I really enjoy my vinyl setup. I have been enthralled building a reasonable size collection of albums and learning many of the subtleties... however at this I believe that digital will probably start getting much more playing time. I will still spin an album, but I think I am moving to a new phase where digital will once again be very important!
 
great to hear you did not experience any SQ degradation when engaging the t+a volume circuit.

i had a look at the rega phono MC specs -- and while the output voltage is not explicitly specified, it does say: ...designed to amplify the signal from a moving coil cartridge to a level which can feed into a 200mV line level input on a standard hi-fi amplifier. so, i suspect the rega puts out quite a bit less voltage than the t+a which for fixed output lists 2.5V for single-ended and 5.0V for balanced.

no wonder you were hearing such a large difference in volume between your analog and digital sources.

so, what's this new digital phase you are embarking upon? :-)
 
Hehe, nothing in particular. I have been listening to primarily vinyl for the past several months while building an album collection and learning everything that has changed since I was last into vinyl. So I will probably be giving more time to digital moving forward now that I think both sources are solidly where I want them to be :).
 
Randy Myers said:
Hehe, nothing in particular. I have been listening to primarily vinyl for the past several months while building an album collection and learning everything that has changed since I was last into vinyl. So I will probably be giving more time to digital moving forward now that I think both sources are solidly where I want them to be :).
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aKnyght said:
great to hear you did not experience any SQ degradation when engaging the t+a volume circuit.

i had a look at the rega phono MC specs -- and while the output voltage is not explicitly specified, it does say: ...designed to amplify the signal from a moving coil cartridge to a level which can feed into a 200mV line level input on a standard hi-fi amplifier. so, i suspect the rega puts out quite a bit less voltage than the t+a which for fixed output lists 2.5V for single-ended and 5.0V for balanced.

no wonder you were hearing such a large difference in volume between your analog and digital sources.

so, what's this new digital phase you are embarking upon? :-)
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With the Moon 310LP the XLR outputs can be set at 72 db gain. When by-passing the volume circuit on the T+A the levels between digital and vinyl are close. I think there is more variance from album to album now then between the two sources now. I like having it as pure as possible and the way T+A allows to set the signal to not even go through the volume circuit is nice.

One other thing I noticed that surprised me, setting the Hattor to dual mono mode (and having to use both volume controls on the front of the unit) did actually improve the sound. Thank God that the remote allows for controlling both volume sections simultaneously!

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One of the strange things about this hobby is that far too many folks won't even consider a piece as competition against some of the very best without the enormous price tag to go with it. Case in point, slap a $20k price tag on the AMRG version of the Hattor line stage and many would be raving about it.

While I have not owned a $20-$30k pre-amp, I have heard a few. I have owned more modest priced versions from ARC, McIntosh, a Stage 2, among others, all of which were 2-4 times the price of the Hattor. I can say, without reservation that the Hattor is in a different league. Since there is no buffering, and other things included with most other pre-amps it does not carry the insane pricing. Being made in Poland by a one man outfit with no advertising and very low overhead, etc., also does not add to the pricing.

However it is built very very well, Arek does also offer an optional tube output stage which doubles the price of the unit. I would confidently put it against other line stages at 10x its price. I think it would hold its own very nicely.

Hopefully that sums up how good I feel the Hattor truly is!
 
I just order the matching Tube Active Stage for my Hattor passive pre-amp. It allows for passive mode or active/buffered mode adding either +6dB or +12dB gain using tubes. It is the perfect add on for the Hattor pre-amp and should take it to an even higher level.
 
That sounds like what my Vac has. The buffered passive mode is nice at night or when you want a little volume without the slam.
 
Hey Brian,

That sounds cool. I am looking forward to it. I love my Hattor passive pre-amp and I think/hope that the tube active stage will take to an even higher level! Arek does an amazing job with his gear; builds them like tanks, exceptional performance but also reasonably priced. So when the unit arrives, the Hattor will actually become a three box pre-amp!
 
hi, I also bought my passive Big Hattor Dual mono AMRG Trans with the active phase OPAMP (+ 3, + 6, + 9dB). Honestly - I only listen in passive mode, the active phase is not so clear sound.
 
I was wondering how you liked the OPAMP. I believe other components, such as speakers and amplifiers being used will be factors. I choose not to get the OPAMP because I determined that if I wanted to add the active stage I wanted to add the third box tube section. The Tube Active Stage is priced the same as the top AMRG Trans itself. I hope and believe it will be a nice option. We will see.

I other pre-amps that I have had that offered passive, SS active and tube active I did prefer it with either the passive of tube active. Not so much the SS active. I believe this will add a little tube sweetness to the unit.
 
Heard from Arek that the Tube Active Stage will be shipping the early part of next week. I am looking forward to adding this unit into the system.
 
The new tube active stage arrived! It can be used either pure passive or tube active. The tube stage adds +9 dB gain but more importantly it adds some nice tube sweetness! More air, more open with added dynamics. Tube goodness! One of the best preamps I have heard, but much more involved now that it is a full three box preamplifier!
 
Thanks Jack. It definitely has some breakin in to go, but so far very impressive. A bigger difference than I was expecting and it should get even better. Arek sent the tube stage in a flight case as he had done with the pre 😊.

Very nice improvement!
 
The more I listen to this pre-amp setup the more I like it. It seems to really bring out the dynamics so much more! the RCA NOS tubes were a noticeable improvement and the NOS CBS are supposed to be here this week. Looking forward to listening to those! The Bel Canto amp sounds so much better than it did without the tube stage! The classic McIntosh amplifier sounds very good with it also.
 
The 1957 CBS-Hytron tubes arrived. Amazing! The RCA clear tops sounded wonderful but these CBS take it to a whole new level!
 
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