I currently have a Hafler Iris tuner and Aragon 18K preamp and am considering buying a used Hafler 945 preamp/tuner to replace them. I am considering this mainly because the 945 has a remote and it matches my Hafler amp. Do you think I would be loosing any sound quality in exchange for my aesthetic laziness?
Possibly. Having owned a Hafler amp years ago and currently owning both an Aragon AV preamp and 2007 amp the build quality is definitely superior on the Aragon equipment. Aragon is certainly noted for making and having made very good preamps. Hafler made good equipment a couple of decades ago and then things got dicey.
That said, if you are buying used equipment under $300, while it might not have the performance of the Aragon, whether the difference is very audible or not--who knows?
No one can answer the question for you of whether your desire for matching preamp and tuner is more important than having a better preamp with no remote.
Heck, I'd rather sell them both and get a used Aragon amp and get a matching Aragon preamp with remote. I realize that this will undoubtedly blow your budget. C'est la vie.
Jan Vigne
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Posted on
The addition of a tuner to a well made pre amp presents very few compromises. They are much less than when you try to cram a power amp with a good sized, heavy power transformer into the same box as a pre amp. (Gosh, maybe that is why a 100 watt Sony receiver only weighs about two pounds!) I am unfamiliar with the model numbers you quote but you probably will notice little difference between the two Hafler pieces. If anything, my guess would be a difference in a better phono section in one of the two, How important is phono to you?
I'm not interested in phono anymore, so that doesn't matter. After months of looking, I just bought the Hafler 945 last week. I can't tell any difference between it and the Aragon preamp in sound quality. Other positives have been: 1)I now have a remote, 2)have AM for those few times I want to listen to a college football games, and 3)have bass and treble controls for slight adjustments (Aragon did not have), all in one component instead of two. I'm satisfied.
Regarding the Aragon preamp, I believe it is of the highest quality but feel like the separate power supply is just a gimmick. All preamps (and tuners) use such a small amount of power that it should not interfer with other circuits if it is properly segregated in the box. Otherwise, all the big names in audio would have the power supplies seperate form the units by three feet of cord like Aragon
Jan Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Separate (remote) power supplies can be used for several reasons. The most common is to reduce the cost of the product by using a transformer that is not as well shielded as a more expensive unit might be. This may be used because the designer would like to use a transformer that is somewhat larger than the average design and therefore produces a larger radiating field of EMI which can introduce noise into the very low level circuits of a pre amp. Larger transformers normally translate into a more stable power supply with more stages of regulation. Those two things are generally regarded as being beneficial to the quality of a component. So even though the designer has used a lower priced transformer judged by its radiated noise spec, the design might use a larger transformer that can support a much better and more stable power supply. It may be a gimmick but in high end audio gear might be well justified by the resultant specs and sound (or lack of noise to be more specific). It certainly is, in any case, less of a sales gimmick than a 3/4" thick front panel on a pre amp. If you would like to know more about the noises that a transformer produces and the affect they have on circuits research Robert Faraday and Farady shield on the internet.