Audiophilepure

AVM PA 8.3 Preamp, SA 8.3 Power Amp, A 8.3 Integrated Amp

A key feature of the preamp is its two chrome-plated, ball-bearing rotary controls, which feel solid, heavy, and precise during use. The step size of the volume change depends on the rotation speed. Slow rotation changes the level in 0.5 dB steps, while fast rotation changes the volume in 2 dB steps. Unusually for a high-end product, the preamp includes Bass, Treble, and Loudness controls that can also be fully bypassed. Even though there are valid arguments against using EQ, there are times when it can be beneficial. Thus, I always welcome the inclusion of this almost forgotten feature.

The preamp, presumably mandated by law, has an Auto-Standby feature that switches to standby after 15 minutes of inactivity, which can be quite annoying for a tube product with a warm-up period. Fortunately, the function can be defeated in the Personal Setup menu. The manual indicates that “the menu button on the right under the display” must be pressed before waking the unit from standby. To be fair, it says “on the right”, but confusingly, the middle button has a ‘Menu’ label, while the other buttons are unlabeled. As it turns out, the unlabeled button on the far right opens the Personal Setup menu, not the Menu button. With that addressed, I left the preamp powered on for most of the day before starting my listening tests.