Hi everybody,
maybe i've got the chance to get my first *serious* preamp.
the choice is between Fet Nine and Fet Ten but i don't know the difference among these units, but the great reputation of Threshold stuffs among the hi-fi community.
Did someone listen to both and can make a comparison?
I'm gonna buy it to match my diy F4 amp (work in progress), i guess it's the right match, what do you think?
Many thanks in advance
Marco
maybe i've got the chance to get my first *serious* preamp.
the choice is between Fet Nine and Fet Ten but i don't know the difference among these units, but the great reputation of Threshold stuffs among the hi-fi community.
Did someone listen to both and can make a comparison?
I'm gonna buy it to match my diy F4 amp (work in progress), i guess it's the right match, what do you think?
Many thanks in advance
Marco
marginwalker said:Hi everybody,
maybe i've got the chance to get my first *serious* preamp.
the choice is between Fet Nine and Fet Ten but i don't know the difference among these units, but the great reputation of Threshold stuffs among the hi-fi community.
Did someone listen to both and can make a comparison?
I'm gonna buy it to match my diy F4 amp (work in progress), i guess it's the right match, what do you think?
Many thanks in advance
Marco
if your spks are on efficient side (92,94 DB/W/m and up) , then these preamps will suit your needs ;
look what's gain and max output voltage of these preamps ..........
then you can tell us ,too .............
cough
The FET/10 and FET/9 are fairly similar.
The 10 has separate chassis for the line pre-amp and phono pre-pre, the 9 is a single case design with phono board for roughly half the 10 tag.(both FET/9 and 10 have a separate PS)
If you only require a line-amplifier and they cost the same i'd choose the FET/10
The FET/10 and FET/9 are fairly similar.
The 10 has separate chassis for the line pre-amp and phono pre-pre, the 9 is a single case design with phono board for roughly half the 10 tag.(both FET/9 and 10 have a separate PS)
If you only require a line-amplifier and they cost the same i'd choose the FET/10
marginwalker said:
If you buy a used car you have to give it a full service inspection and grease job as well.
Or take it on a russian roulette holiday straight away and trash it at 90mph on the German autobahn, i've even first hand witnessed a fresh out of college civil engineer do that.(civil blokes are generally just as poorly in math, as far as they ever had deep math classes)
With patience, you can find a FET-9 in the US for $300-$400.
Those pre-amps cost only half as much in the US, the 5500 Euro Fet-10/hl+Fet-10/pc set did less than $3K in the US in the late 80s.
Buying one for $400 in the US, with all additional costs for getting it to Italy added, would amount to the same ball park figure.
For the marginal gain to be had there's a risc of damage during the transit, the pre also has to be wired for 230VAC mains operation.
A decent price range for a well cared for FET-9 overhere is in the 600 to 750 Euro range.
Exchanging all electrolytic capacitors applies to both cases, the cost is marginal and you'd have a pre-amp that is as good or better than when it left the factory.
A pre-amp does not run as hot as a power amplifier, without maintenance it may function without issues for ten years longer.
Fresh current production electrolytics are good for 15 to 20 years, but their performance is also superior to caps from the 1980s.
Switches and attenuators may need cleaning or replacement in time, depends a lot on the environment they were in.
My experience so far has been that small signal semis may outlast you, the first diy pre-amp i built operates just as good as when i built it +20 years ago.
I would not underestimate these pre-amps, i sincerely doubt that you will find a used pre-amplifier of another brand with the same build and sound quality for that amount.
An equally good or better sounding one from the same era would be an ML26, but those usually go for well over 1.5 Euro grand.
Compared to the total cost of building a pre-amp yourself the 450 looks mighty attractive to me, consider what a smartlooking amp case such as the one of the FET-9 would cost you.
(not counting the horrible powersupply boxes, me thinks NPaPass views PS cases the same way he does opamps)
The FET-9 and 10 models are collectors items and semi-classic pre-amps, take good care of one and you may even make a profit when you sell it in 5 to 10 years time.
since i cannot find Fet-9 specs on the web i asked to Threshold.
They answered very soon and very kindly, nice support.
So, Fet Nine has 20db gain on the line stage and 8V RMS output. Not as impressive as Fet-10/hl (20V) but i suppose it's just enough for the F4 (at least with high efficiency speakers).
Ciao
Marco
They answered very soon and very kindly, nice support.
So, Fet Nine has 20db gain on the line stage and 8V RMS output. Not as impressive as Fet-10/hl (20V) but i suppose it's just enough for the F4 (at least with high efficiency speakers).
Ciao
Marco
marginwalker said:since i cannot find Fet-9 specs on the web i asked to Threshold.
They answered very soon and very kindly, nice support.
So, Fet Nine has 20db gain on the line stage and 8V RMS output. Not as impressive as Fet-10/hl (20V) but i suppose it's just enough for the F4 (at least with high efficiency speakers).
Ciao
Marco
well - in that case my schematic wasn't so bad .........
I estimate 7V at max
that Fet-10/hl must mean something as High Level...
?
listening impressions
Hi guys, it's about a week since i have the Fet-9 in my system.
At first, when i plugged it for the first time i was quiet disappointed: i have to turn the volume knob too clockwise to reach the same spl i got used with my Nakamichi Ca-5e and the sound seemed 'thinner'.
Well, after a week listening to Fet-9, today i plugged Naka again....
now i can say that the thinner sound was just better/deep soundstage and tighter, faster bass. Naka seems muddy in the mid-low, Threshold just punchy. The feel of 'space' (i can't say better then this) is impressive.
Please don't tell Mr Pass i'm using Threshold to drive a GC don't worry, F4 is on the way...
During next days i'll do more extended comparative tests.
I'm still a little disappointed about output level, but turning up the knob a little more seems to strongly worth the upgrade.
Does anyone got the psu schematic? I noticed that electrolytic caps have been replaced with new ones (but they looks crappy).
I guess such a preamp deserves good caps.
My choice is for Panasonic TS-UP, any suggestion?
Thanks guys for advising me such a great preamp!
Ciao!
Marco
Hi guys, it's about a week since i have the Fet-9 in my system.
At first, when i plugged it for the first time i was quiet disappointed: i have to turn the volume knob too clockwise to reach the same spl i got used with my Nakamichi Ca-5e and the sound seemed 'thinner'.
Well, after a week listening to Fet-9, today i plugged Naka again....
now i can say that the thinner sound was just better/deep soundstage and tighter, faster bass. Naka seems muddy in the mid-low, Threshold just punchy. The feel of 'space' (i can't say better then this) is impressive.
Please don't tell Mr Pass i'm using Threshold to drive a GC
don't worry, F4 is on the way...During next days i'll do more extended comparative tests.
I'm still a little disappointed about output level, but turning up the knob a little more seems to strongly worth the upgrade.
Does anyone got the psu schematic? I noticed that electrolytic caps have been replaced with new ones (but they looks crappy).
I guess such a preamp deserves good caps.
My choice is for Panasonic TS-UP, any suggestion?
Thanks guys for advising me such a great preamp!
Ciao!
Marco
technical differences?
Sorry to post in this thread but I thought I might have more luck than posting in my own lonely one! 8) Can anyone here tell me what are the topological differences between the fet nine and the first fet ten variant? (I think that one was capacitively coupled..) I'm interested in if the line stages are the same basic circuit?
Sorry to post in this thread but I thought I might have more luck than posting in my own lonely one! 8) Can anyone here tell me what are the topological differences between the fet nine and the first fet ten variant? (I think that one was capacitively coupled..) I'm interested in if the line stages are the same basic circuit?
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