Educate me on Trace Elliot V-Type preamp

[ajkula66]

I can't "try before I buy". Not a lot of $$$ and seemingly in VGC, but I've never played one so...

Pros ? Cons ? General impressions ?

 

I went through a lot of TE stuff during the '80s and '90s but never sampled their valve offerings and am curious.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom that you may be willing to share.

[Hellzero]

It's well built, reliable, easy to use and fix.

 

Soundwise, it's totally different from their solid state products and to me more pleasant to the ears, without that permanent compression, which is the typical sound signature of Trace Elliot amps.

 

These V-Type series items often retail for peanuts, but are worth every penny, should you like tube/valve based preamps.

[ajkula66]

7 hours ago, Hellzero said:

It's well built, reliable, easy to use and fix.

 

Soundwise, it's totally different from their solid state products and to me more pleasant to the ears, without that permanent compression, which is the typical sound signature of Trace Elliot amps.

 

These V-Type series items often retail for peanuts, but are worth every penny, should you like tube/valve based preamps.

Thank you.

 

Pretty much what I had surmised given that I've heard people comparing them to Alembic F1X from the sonic standpoint, and F1X sounds nothing like a typical TE from their heyday.

 

Keep opinions and experiences coming, pretty please...🙃

[Bigwan]

Great sounding preamp, had one for a while. Similar to a clean Fender Bassman or Alembic F1 preamp with the passive tone stack, but can add a little bit of valvey goodness when you crank the gain up. I heard somebody recently describe a similar preamp as "juicy" which summed it up quite nicely while telling you absolutely nothing!!!

[Downunderwonder]

Passive tone stack is not everyone's cup of tea.

 

When nationally flat is bass 2, mids 10, treble 2. there isn't a lot of room to maneuver.

[thodrik]

It is a lovely preamp however the EQ is very limited. If you are looking for surgical EQs or ‘flat’ response then you will be disappointed. Essentially it sounds nothing like the graphic EQ solid state amps to my ears. 
 

The general tone however is awesome, especially with a passive bass.

 

I would never sell my V6.

[ajkula66]

10 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Passive tone stack is not everyone's cup of tea.

 

When nationally flat is bass 2, mids 10, treble 2. there isn't a lot of room to maneuver.

Very well said and I'm not disagreeing. Definitely a valid point to consider. Thank you!

 

5 hours ago, thodrik said:

It is a lovely preamp however the EQ is very limited. If you are looking for surgical EQs or ‘flat’ response then you will be disappointed. Essentially it sounds nothing like the graphic EQ solid state amps to my ears. 
 

The general tone however is awesome, especially with a passive bass.

 

I would never sell my V6.

 

Well, I already have a metric ton of various amps - valve, SS and a hybrid - so I'm not looking for a single (pre)amp to fulfill all of my needs. I know better than that at my advanced age...

 

Having said that, all of my basses are passive indeed and I have a gut feeling that this TE may play really well with a couple of them. We'll see.

 

Many a thanks for chiming in...