Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/nagra-preamp-ii-s-preamplifier

If ever a product dismissed the hoary notion that hi-fi components are or should be genre-biased, it’s this beauty. The very first word that came into my mind was ‘neutrality’, and the second was ‘quietness’. I was reminded of the sonic resemblance to the HD Preamp [HFN Nov ’18] and thus had to marvel at how close the PREAMP II-S is to its dearer siblings. While it’s true that you get more sophisticated circuitry and possibly other features by moving up a level, the main sonic benefits I could recall were slightly more slam down below, perhaps thanks to the HD’s and Reference’s massive power supplies, and a whiff of grandeur. Otherwise, this is clearly related to its hugely expensive stablemates.

That, of course, mattered most when listening to the loud and angry punk of The Stooges, or the glam punk of the New York Dolls, but for both the most telling element was how Nagra’s PREAMP II-S dealt with Iggy Pop and David Johansen’s snarls. Their textures and tics came through with such detail and clarity that I’m obliged to add a third word to this Swiss brand’s lexicon: ‘transparency’. This tube preamp is so open sounding – again, it’s that quietness and the huge dynamic swings which both contribute – that I could swear I was hearing a deeper soundstage as well. This even carried over to the lean Julie London recordings, where space mattered more

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