Atoll PR200 Stereo Preamp, $1500
Before diving into reading about the over performing PR200, please take a moment to read about Atoll’s perspicacious AM200 power amp Product Highlight. PR200 was its mate throughout our testing and is a perfect match. It’s our favorite affordable preamp because it does so much, so well.
For many years the snooty audio mags have been complaining that there are “no good stereo preamps.” All they ever write about are the crazy expensive brands that manufacturers lend out in hopes that they’ll get a review they can turn into an advertisement. I… for one, simply don’t care what they have to say about Swiss preamps for $40-70k or even more. If that’s all you ever “see” you’re missing the forest through the trees. And this… is the state of affairs with spoiled reviewers.
There are affordable preamps on the market. But the vast majority of them are built in China with surface mount components and are literally chips ahoy. They sound thin and grainy. I can see why the mag guys don’t like them- if they even deign to review them. But there’s an alternative they clearly don’t know about. We’ll get to Atoll in a minute, but first, why is this the case? Secondly, can’t we do better?
To produce ANY product, preamp for this discussion, you have to start out with a chassis, a box with knobs on the front and jacks on the back. There has to be a power supply. If you design each piece from scratch, each undertaking has its own nut to crack. To hit a low price, the only way a manufacturer can get there is to go cheap & cheaper. This…. Is what we’ve seen in modestly priced preamps. Cheap parts assembled with cheap labor in China.
There is a BETTER way. And that is with Atoll of France with a 3 year warranty.
Atoll isn’t a huge manufacturer. Yet they’re more efficient in design/build than anybody. Rather than use the cheapest parts and labor in the world, Atoll uses its collective smarts. The vast majority of Atoll products are manufactured in the same box/chassis. Face plates and knobs are similar. Jacks and connections are shared among many models. The point here is, the infrastructure is fantastic and elegant beyond its price class.
PR200 is Atoll’s least expensive preamp- full single ended. Yet it sounds warm and rich, because it’s not a flimsy toy from China with a pile of chips under the hood. PR200 uses a large, 340VA Spanish built toroidal transformer. It has 32,000uF of filter caps. This power supply, used in this stereo preamp, is more substantial than what you’ll find in most 100×2 power amps.
Atoll can afford to craft PR200 from this architecture because they do it line wide. They use the same transformer and array of caps in a wide array of SKUs throughout the family. As you look at the PCB within PR200 you can see it can be the heart of its integrated amps as well. It’s uber smart & efficient planning.
If you look under PR200’s cover, the transformer and caps dominate your vista. If you peek inside a $1500 Chinese preamp you might find it DIFFICULT to even FIND the transformer and filter caps! They’re stingy on parts.
PR200 has a gorgeous PCB that is a work of art- featuring through hole construction. The other guys… run boards full of chips and wires as skinny as dental floss. It’s no wonder PR200 has a dead quiet, distinctively clear and solid sound. Its background is black. The Chinese gear sounds gray.
Listening to PR200 is like watching a TV with excellent definition and a black background that allows all details to pop. The Chinese guys have a softer sonic picture with a gray background that obfuscates the fine detail we audiophiles crave.
When you hear a pro play a guitar with the ability to bring out a percussive snap or sparkle to make a point, you’ll love Atoll. The Chinese gear just waters everything down so that such differences are compromised. The contrast a great musician can bring to the party is shone in full color by Atoll and quashed by the Chinese.
PR200 employs the smooth and balanced ALPS volume pot that works fully in the analog domain. It has a nice heavy feel as well. You FEEL the quality as well as hear it.
PR200 runs $1500 in line stage configuration. The P50 MM phono board is $130. The DA100 DAC is $320. You build your own pizza with Atoll. Configure it per your needs.
If you’re wondering if $130 is enough for a fine phono section… or $320 is enough for an excellent DAC, I can assure you IT IS. Please remember that Atoll’s infrastructure is massive compared to anything else in this range. Both the phono and DAC boards rely on that infrastructure for great sound. The reason most phono sections and DACs are more expensive is that they have to be built from the ground up. They can’t take advantage of the marvelous Atoll chassis, transformer, caps etc.
