General Asylum: REVIEW: FT Audio LW-1 Preamplifier (SS) by Marc Bratton

You know all the standard disclaimers about passive preamps: They can't drive long interconnects, they attenuate dynamics and bass, their sound quality varies dependent on the volume pot position, and they're finicky about amplifier input impedances. All these characteristics made the idea of a passive preamp unattractive to me, despite the obvious advantages of simplicity and transparency, if implemented correctly.
The LW-1 seems to be cut from a different bolt of cloth altogether. It has some kind of proprietary module inside that largely gets around the impedance matching problems. You still have to take into consideration the input impedance of your amplifier and the output impedance of your source, but this unit seems to be more forgiving than most passives, probably because of the module. For the same reason, it's able to drive considerably longer than the standard 1/2 meter you usually use with passives. This is a small unit-about 5in wide by 8 in. deep. Its quality of construction is pretty high, with a nicely anodized aluminum faceplate, switching for 5 inputs plus a nonbuffered tape monitor, and a volume pot. Very high quality RCAs in the back, with 2 main outs, for those who biamp or subwoofer. It is internally wired with Kimber hookup wire. And that's about it. Paul Lamm's motto is "simpler in this better". As he states, most sources today have more than enough gain to drive an amplifier. So why add another gain stage, and then have to throttle it back, which is what line stages do? Simpler is better...
So after asking him about a dozen questions which he very patiently answered, I ordered one on a 30 day trial. My major concern was whether my EAR 834P would be able to drive this unit without choking. He assured me it would. He told me to give it 200 hours breakin...on each input! Oh-kay.
So I put the Ah!Tjoeb CDP on repeat, came back in 24 hours. Sounded pretty shut in. Went away, came back the next day. Hell-o..."Damn, that sounds expensive!" was my 1st thought. You know how it is when you remove gobs of crud that you didn't know was there, and it's like the sun breaking thru the clouds after a long storm. An epiphany. That's what this Little Wonder gave me, for 5 clams.
I got markedly increased transparency and inner detailing. You expect that from passive pre's. But I wasn't prepared for was the increased dynamics, both macro and micro, and the deeper, more natural sounding bass. Nor I was prepared for how much deeper and wider, how much more layered, the soundstage became. Nor was I prepared for how much more fully formed, 3D, and just there, the images were. Sonic colorations? Damned if I could catch it out in any. Since my whole system is tubed,suffice it to say that's what I heard. This little unit just plain gets out of the way of the music more than any active preamp I've ever had in my system, which includes a Bryston B60(which is what the LW-1 replaced), an MFA Magus A2, and a CJ PV10. None of these are considered the last word in preamps, but they are well respected, and go for 2-3 times the price of the LW-1. If the LW-1 had just come close to these performance wise, you'd say you got a very good deal. But the LW-1 handily kicked the snot out of all of these. It made them sound like they had fur on them. The usual cliche of removing a veil, definitely applies. How about a sonic enema....I feel like my system's been given a high colonic, and it lost about 18lbs of gunk called a "line stage". This is hyperbole, of course, but you get my point. Simpler IS better! My system just plain sounds more alive now.
So, does the LW-1 beat the $4000 line stages? Beats me...I don't play in that sandbox. Good as my system now sounds with the LW-1, not likely I ever will. I'm sure they have their reasons for being...don't they? If you need balanced inputs or outputs, have more than 5 sources, or need to drive really long interconnects, I guess they are the only choice. But if your needs are simple, like mine are, I can't imagine a better choice for $500...or for 3 times that. One more thing...there is no free lunch. Because there is no active circuitry or negative feedback, this piece is very sensitive to the quality of the interconnects feeding it. Because it is internally wired with Kimber wire, Paul Lamm recommends Kimber Silver Streak as a minimum, and Kimber Select 1020 as the preferred interconnect. I'm using 1.5 meters of Kimber Select 1020 between the LW-1 and my amplifier, and it really does appreciate the difference. But it seems it is reasonably happy with even just my DH Labs BL-1's upstream of it, so don't panic if you don't have the foo-foo wire to start out with. If you give this piece a trial, I doubt very much you'll be returning it. I sold my Bryston B60 the next day. As a matter of fact, since having the LW-1 in my system, I've seem to have lost a nearly terminal case of audiophilia nervosa I'd had. I'm no longer interested in upgrading anything. Looked at that way, this has to be the best $500.00 I've ever spent.

REVIEW: FT Audio LW-1 Preamplifier (SS) Review by Marc Bratton at Audio Asylum