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You may not believe this but.....

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on May 18, 2024 at 14:10:11

In Reply to: LSA Group Hyper Drive 2 Tube preamp or Schitt Kara? posted by fstein on May 15, 2024 at 07:26:05:

I have owned 4 of the preamps that you mentioned including:

- Schiit Kara
- Topping Pre90+Extender
- LSA Group Hyper Drive 2
- Placette Passive

The Schiit Kara is easily my top pick. It has balanced and unbalanced ins/outs. The Kara is great on sonics and offers passive mode with relay switched precision resistors similar to the Placette. Personally I find that it sounds best in active mode in my current system. Nice to have that choice. I like the Kara a little better than the vacuum tube Schiit Freya+ but that's mostly a matter of personal preference. Both are excellent preamps.

The Topping Pre90 + Extender sounds fine but "the remote control is frustrating." See Kal's Stereophile review for the quote. And it wasn't actually just the remote but the fact that the preamp didn't consistently respond to remote commands on the first try. This shortcoming had nothing to do with aiming it precisely but that is also an issue.

The LSA Hyper Drive 2 was fine but offered no remote. The knob and markings on the face look cool but the knob has a hallow plastic-ey feel to it. The odd shape of the LSA made it difficult to place especially with the tubes sticking out the top. Just nit picking on those points but it hindered placement in my smallish audio rack.

The Placette is an outstanding passive in the right setup. You know this as you have one. Mine did very well with my somewhat high output Cary CD 306/200 CDP from decades ago.

LSA HyperDrive 2 in my setup

Schiit Kara in my setup

Topping Pre90 + Ext 'for sale photos' on the kitchen table

I didn't keep it around long as a good Remote Control is a must for me.

Placette with my Cary CDP from decades ago

Edits: 05/19/24 05/19/24

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