Solid State Preamp Reviews

Associated equipment used with the Consummate for this review included, primarily, the Graham Model 1.5tonearm mounted on either the Oracle Delphi Mk.IV, SOTA Cosmos turntable with Dynavector XX-1L, or (briefly) Benz-Micro MC-3 cartridge; Krell KSA-250 power amplifier; and B&W Matrix 804 and Apogee Centaur Major loudspeakers. (The Oracle turntable was used with the B&Ws early in the review cycle, the SOTA Cosmos with the Apogees later).

Speaker cabling was Symo (Apogees) and AudioQuest Clear (B&Ws). Interconnects were Cardas Hexlink balanced (preamp to power amp) and AudioQuest Lapis from line-level sources (including the output of the phono stage) to the Consummate. Except where noted, the Lapis was one step removed from the latest version. Tonearm to phono preamp interconnect was SME V cable.—Thomas J. Norton