Help on deciding preamp please!

Hello Friends!

If I can ask for your opinions I would really appreciate it.

I need to get a preamp and so far have narrowed it down to 3.
Can you please advise on which you would choose and why.
All are in like new condition and priced about the same.

P.S. I;m very nostalgic for 70's gear, maybe early 80 81..that it!

In no particular order;
1) Luxman C120A with wood case
2) Marantz 3600 with wood case
3) Carver C4000

I know the Luxman had a recap, not sure of the others..it doesn't
bother me if it didn't anyways because I would get them checked out.

Moving coil is not an issue, but would like to hook up to 2 pairs of speakers.

I;m hoping to pair it with a Accuphase P300 power amp.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks a million.

Dan

Carver C4000 is a very nice Pre. I expect you would want to have someone go through it though. I am not familiar with the others but Luxman has always made good stuff.

Do you think one would go better with the Accuphase P300.

Try a Nikko Beta 20. Very neutral sounding preamp that is very well built. I know it is not on your list, but the Nikko is a very nice preamp and can be found on Ebay for a reasonable price. I personally have one and I really like the way it sounds. The phono stage sounds quite nice with MM type cartridges.

I actually had a Nikko preamp years ago.(cant remember the model), but am going for a more vintage silverface look.
Things like Crown IC150A, Phase Linear oh and SAE,, things like that plus the ones I already mentioned.
Unfortunately, those are hard to come by.

Baron1--Dynaco Pat-4 or Pat-5
A lot of information about both on this site..

I would go with the Luxman.

Are the Luxman and Marantz similar in sound or Carver and Luxman or Marantz and Carver?

I haven't had the chance to test drive them. Does the Carver have too many gizmos that interfere with the sound? The Marantz is very simple where the Luxman seems middle of road.

Which would be better for brighter speakers (horn based) or darker speakers(more upper bass and mid heavy?

thanks

Dan

Find a Carver C-1 and read about all the great BillD mods from the Carver site that can be done. I love mine and it sounds awesome. Almost every resistor has been replaced with 1% tolerance versions, almost all caps have been replaced, new opamps, new RCA connectors, and even added remote control volume and mute. It's hard to beat for the money.

If someone has experience with the three preamps I mentioned can tell me

Are the Luxman and Marantz similar in sound or Carver and Luxman or Marantz and Carver?

Which would be better for brighter speakers (horn based) or darker speakers(more upper bass and mid heavy?

Remember this would be paired with an Accuphase P300 power amp.

Thanks again!