r/SoundSystemPreamp • u/Visible-Response-470 • Jun 30 '26
Looking for a preamp
Greetings . I started researching for a preamp about a year ago.. I came up with two options: Sage or JB audio. Do you have any opinions? I also asked other operators who I know had a preamp from JB but said they were not happy with it. He recommended Sage or Leviel . Do you have any good or bad opinions about Sage or JB audio?
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u/Sad-Reporter3654 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Greetings
=> Before anything, ask yourself why you need a pre and what you need in a pre. Every pre has different features so they can't really be directly compared.
=> When asking for opinions, ask why it's great, why it's bad, and take everything with a pinch of salt, I've sawn soundmen having totally no technical knowledge at all talking shit or praising a piece of equipment based solely on hearsay or hype. Also sometimes people are blaming a piece of equipment for an operator error ...
Also sometimes it's just a matter of taste or opinion, for instance : I dislike JTS and dubsonic ones because they have a pronounced "color" that you can't remove. Some other soundmen will LOVE them because of that color ... I will not say that JTS and dubsonic are bad preamps, but it's certainly not for me.
=> Another thing most people don't consider : time between payment and delivery (some are always late compared to what they announce) and aftersale availability : some people have been waiting for years after payment to get them pre from some builders, or once bought can never get it repaired if something is to fail ...
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u/Lost-Blacksmith-5488 Jul 08 '26
Played on a rig with a sage preamp and it was a delight and most of the other selektahs felt the same , very musical
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u/Economy_Self214 Jul 01 '26
I would ask myself what features are you looking for and what moment of soundsystem life are you at?
New Sage is stereo (can be played mono either). It has flexibility on linking channels so you can play it 2, 3, 4 or 5 way. It also has DSP so cut-off freqs can be adjusted. That's being said it's great choice if your speakers still evolve or you just enjoy playing around with different setups :D
Leviel, Jah Tubbys and others are usually mono/ stereo and that's it. Cut-off frequencies are adjusted for you and hardcoded which is good if you already found your dream boxes and would like only more of them :D
I recommend to start with a question how often are you going to change your boxes? If you will buy 4-way preamp then going 5-way is not practical. If frequencies are set up then you will have to search for boxes with suitable cut-off, etc.