The design, controls and OLED display of the Primare PRE35 are borrowed from the Primare I35 amplifier. The device has a durable steel alloy body mounted on three legs. The front panel is pushed forward and has a minimalist design. The volume knob is located on the left side and allows you to adjust the balance after turning on the corresponding button on the remote control. On the right is the input selector. Between them are the “standby”, menu and navigation buttons, as well as a switchable universal display with large characters and adjustable brightness.
The device has two balanced inputs and one output (on XLR connectors), four inputs and two RCA outputs, a recorder output, as well as jacks for an IR repeater, TRIG OUT, RF and an RS232 port. Using the setup menu, you can rename the inputs, turn them off, and reduce the volume for each of them. The Primare PRE35 has a built-in media module with an AKM AK4497, 32-bit/768 kHz, DSD 256/11.2 MHz DAC on board.
It is advisable to use the Primare PRE35 model with the original A35.2 power amplifier and CD35 CD player. They can be connected together using relay cables and trig in/trig out sockets to create a balanced High End system
All signal paths in the preamplifier are as short as possible. The conversion of unbalanced signals from RCA inputs to balanced ones is carried out by a block with Burr-Brown OPA2134 op-amps. The model has four single-ended symmetrical amplifier modules, separated from each other. The design uses selected components: field-effect transistors based on MOS structures, MELF resistors, polypropylene capacitors. Adjustment of volume, balance and source selection occurs exclusively in analogue form.
In sleep mode, the Primare PRE35 consumes only 0.2 W thanks to the switching power supply. In operating mode, a linear power supply with an R-Core transformer and electrolytes with a total capacity of 25,000 μF is turned on. It uses a discrete, ultra-fast voltage control circuit with high-power transistors to reduce distortion and improve signal-to-noise ratio.
DAC Board
This board is equipped with three digital inputs – isochronous USB-B (16-24 bits/44.1-96 kHz), TOSLINK (16-24 bits/44.1-192 kHz) and SPDIF (16-24 bits/44 ,1-192 kHz) – and allows you to send streaming audio files from your computer to the amplifier.
The USB hub is powered by a chipset that supports data reception with PCM sampling rates up to 768 kHz/32 bit and DSD 11.2 MHz via the USB Type B input (at the Type A input for flash drives and removable hard drives, however, it only supports reading audio files up to 192 kHz ). And the transformation itself is entrusted to the AK4497, one of the most advanced and expensive chips in the Asachi Kasei line.
Primare PRE35 DAC (DAC board installed)
The sound of the highest quality Hi-Res audio files (both from a computer and from a USB flash drive) was a real revelation. The DAC, built on the latest Japanese chip, worked some miracles, extracting not only all the microdynamic nuances from the recordings, but also giving them new meaning. The clarity of the main musical images and the recognition of all accompanying background components has reached a fundamentally new level of openness and sincerity with the AK4497. We especially note that this “addition of resolution” was manifested in phonograms of any genre – even the most mediocre or not very well mixed recordings sounded interesting and captivating.
Characteristics of Primare PRE35 DAC
Frequency range, Hz-kHz 20 – 20
S/N ratio, dB 105
Harmonic distortion , % 0.01
Gain, dB 10.5 – 22.5
Input impedance 30/15 kOhm (XLR/RCA)
Output impedance 100/400 Ohm (RCA/XLR)
Audio DAC AKM AK4497, 32-bit/768 kHz, DSD 256/11.2 MHz
Inputs
Coaxial 2 x SPDiF (RCA)
Optical 4 x TOSLink
USB 1 x USB-B, 1 x USB-A
Analog audio 2 x XLR, 3 x RCA
Others RS232, 1 x 3.5 mm trigger, 1 x 3.5 mm IR
Outputs
Coaxial 1 x S/PDIF (RCA)
Analog audio 2 x RCA, 2 x XLR
Others 1 x 3.5 mm trigger, 1 x 3.5 mm IR
Power consumption, W 37
Supply voltage, V 230
Dimensions, mm 430 x 420 x 106
Weight, kg 11.3
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