[thenoiseflower]

Originally Posted by vin-gear

The 312 is a bit more open and almost cleaner sounding compared to a VP26. That may be hard to believe with all the "mid-forward", "mid-aggressive" adjectives used to describe the coveted 312 sound. "Clean" is usually not one of them. Well, the VP26 has just a little more of that "it" sound, if you will. Even though they are not as open, they for sure do not sound dark when comparing the top. Similar, just not quite as "open". The bottom end on the VP26 is a bit tighter...maybe more round than a 312. It is subtle though. They are the most different in the mids though I think. The VP26 is very tight and focused while being even more forward and aggressive sounding but only in the bestest of ways. They have a unique and special character there that is not present in other preamps that I have heard. The VP26 output transformer can be driven hard with a nice, pleasing, gentle saturation. That will happen with a 2623-1 before it will with a 2503. Again, it's my opinion but I think there are other ears out there that can verify some of these same findings.

Contrary to some of the popular talk, the discrete opamps make quite a noticeable difference in these preamps. My favorites are the gar2520 and a Liebers' SL2520 red dot. Scott's red dots have a great, amazing detail thingy happening in the upper mid area while the gar2520 is a little smoother and more "creamy" sounding. Both of course retain the great mid-forward sound you would expect.


Cheers, Jeff

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agreed 100%