SPL Goldmike.

Stefan Elmblad

Stefan Elmblad

New member
Anyone own this or has experience with it ? Tell me what you think.

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Hello Stefan,
I asked this same quetion here a few months back and got no reply. I figured that this German pre is not very well known outside of Europe. I was also interested as the guys in the music store spoke highly of it and said that pricewise, 1000 euros + or - here in Spain, it was a good deal.
Here is a link with a review comparing it to Manley, Neve and Mackie. I also found a favorable article in an english magazine that I think I found in a google search.
Let me know if you do run into somebody who has used one
http://www.soundperformancelab.com/GoldMike/T_US_Remarq_D.html
 
I have no experience with this pre, but the design doesn't exactly thrill me. Basically it is based on an integrated circuit, the manual says an Analog Devices SSM 2017. Since that IC is now obsolete, they probably switched to a Burr Brown; the INA 217 would be a compatible replacement. The tube stage merely adds another 6 dB gain.

Not that the design is *really* bad, it's just that I think the pre is too expensive for an IC based design. I'd rather go for a discrete transitor preamp than an IC-based pre with just a little tube flavor added. The M-Audio DMP3 is also a Burr Brown based preamp and is much cheaper. It doesn't have the showy tube stage, though, and it doesn't look as impressive.

Just my 2 Euro cents
 
Rossi said:
I have no experience with this pre, but the design doesn't exactly thrill me. Basically it is based on an integrated circuit, the manual says an Analog Devices SSM 2017. Since that IC is now obsolete, they probably switched to a Burr Brown; the INA 217 would be a compatible replacement. The tube stage merely adds another 6 dB gain.

Not that the design is *really* bad, it's just that I think the pre is too expensive for an IC based design. I'd rather go for a discrete transitor preamp than an IC-based pre with just a little tube flavor added. The M-Audio DMP3 is also a Burr Brown based preamp and is much cheaper. It doesn't have the showy tube stage, though, and it doesn't look as impressive.

Just my 2 Euro cents
Click to expand...
I thought it was a tube pre?
-Flatpicker
 
It is a tube hybrid.... kind of. You got a solid state preamp with a second tube gainstage that ALWAYS boost 6 dB. So the amount of tube sound is set and cannot be altered.

The main concern in a preamp though is wheather it sounds good or not. So it may bother some people and mean nothing to others.
 
Well in Germany some like it, some don't. It certainly is low noise and the specs are alright. Personally I wouldn't spend that much money on an IC-based pre. There's the DMP3 in the lower price range, and the RNP at about the same price point as the SPL or even less. If you're into tube sound, the Peavey VMP2 has an excellent reputation. If mono is an option, then there's the Studio Projects preamp (which includes a "fake" tube stage like the SPL but other than that is discrete transistor), or why not a Mindprint Envoice? I don't have a problem with SPL in general, but their products are sort of hit or miss, some are great and innovative, others are dull. I think designwise the Gold Channel is one of the duller SPL products.
 
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