How good is the 72?

The '90' can of course be improved upon, but as you have a vinyl source; a good pre-amp is essential.

I'd go for a 72, then a Hi-Cap.

I went from a 42.5 to a 72 about 6 months ago and found it noticeably more transparent with quite a bit more detail - more of everything. You can probably pick one up for around £300.

If I was in your position I'd put the remaining £200 + whatever you could get for your snaps towards a hi-cap. This really would be a big step forward.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Rich

I can thoroughly recommend the 72 with a hi-cap (I've not tried it without as I found the hi-cap first so I never saw the point). I moved from a 42 and the difference was large.

There seems to be a glut of both 72's and hi-caps on Epay at the moment, you would be looking at between £700 and £850 for both so that would be your £500 plus what you can get for your 42.5 and Snaps so you would need to top it up a bit (well worth it though).

72-Hi is agreat combination. A really good move on my part never regretted it at all. Obviously it can be improved upon but thats not the question for now is it?

Howard

Thanks all. I wasn't expecting a consensus!

I think the 72 is probably the way to go, but what about the 102?

Ta

Tim

102 better still by most accounts - never heard one though.

Tim--

The 72 is terrific--it's very well balanced, extremely tuneful, and is very coherent. The only real flaws it has are that it's a bit veiled and band-limited compared to 82/52.

I personally don't think the 102 worth the money over the 72, and would suggest you put the price difference towards a hicap. A 72/hicap is considerably better than a bare 102.

Best,

Bob

some 3 years ago I asked the dealer which cheap preamp is to use till I’d be able to buy some better. He told me it was the 72 so I bought it. It’s rather better than the 32.5 previously I owned but it had its backdraws. It has a more open, more upfront presentation, due to its band limitation and initially I did not like it that much. It was buying a Scap that improved the sound to a grade where I felt the 72’s merits convincing. But then I want to upgrade immediately to 52. Hope it helps.

graphoman

quote:

---

A 72/hicap is considerably better than a bare 102.

---

But would it be better than a 102/NAPSC, which at £650ish would be a cheaper combination by £150-200. It would also leave the HiCap upgrade for the future. I wouldn't mind betting a 102/NAPSC/Hi would beat the 72/Hi by a significant margin, plus it has remote.

David

David--

I would say yes, IME a 72/Hicap is still quite a bit better than a 102/NAPSC. I would personally choose a 72/Hicap over a 102/NAPSC/Hicap, and did...

Joe Petrik had a good description. Using a 72 as a reference point, he said the 102 is 2 units more detailed than a 72 but only one unit more organized. Thus, the 102 doesn't sound as coherent, all of a piece, as the 72. That's why I prefer the 72/Hi.

Best,

Bob

I lived with 72/Hi/140 for about 7 years and it's a great combo.

The 102/NAPSC/Hi/140 is better than the above combo by quite a margin. But of course, it costs more as well.

I wouldn't get a 72 without a HiCap.

Having lived with 102/NAPSC for some years and tried a friend's 72/Hi in the same system (NAP180/SF EA IIs), I must say I preferred 72/Hi (but ultimately settled for 102/NAPSC/Hi..)

How will the 72 sound powered by my dual rail modded snaps rather than a hi-cap?

Or is the answer a simple "much better"?

The SNAPs made a big difference to my 42.5 in terms of imaging but also made it shout a bit more (sorry, don't know the technical term).

Kid,

Get the 72. Get a hi-Cap. (Later on bypass the 102 and jump to a 82 if you get the upgrade bug!) The slightly closed top end makes the 72 easier to live with than the 102. For similar money I prefer the 72/Hi-Cap to the 102/NAPSC. This is despite the fact that IMHO the 102/NAPSC combination is technically better.

Noel.

At present I've got a Nait3, which I really like, but at some point in the next 12 months, I hope to upgrade it to a separate pre/power. I like the Naits tight, pacey presentation and would like to get more of it, with a bit more allround authority and resolution.

I'm wondering which combo, 102/NAPSC/140 or 72/Hi/140 will get me closer to that objective. I suspect it will be the 102, but I'm also an idle git and like the idea of remote, so am I just trying to justify pandering to my own idleness

David

"Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it's yours." :Carl Sagan

Never could resist a 72 V’s 102 debate...

"I currently have a 42.5, dual railed SNAPS, NAP90 into credos set-up. Source is a p25.

My own research suggests that the next logical upgrade step would be a better pre-amp. I have heard good things about the 72 - should I go for this or get a better power amp (since everyone seems to loathe the 90)?

I have a max of about £500 to spend."

Kid,
For years I ran a 42.5 (without and later with hicap), but eventually grew tired of its inability to resolve much detail. I figured the answer lay in moving up to a 72 so I borrowed one from my dealer for a week. I quickly found, that even without using the hicap, the 72 was clearly ahead of the 42.5 in all areas. The hicap brought a bit more control and clout to the bass, but it’s not a necessary requirement. Your dual rail snaps would be a nice halfway house.

Anyway, when I went back to the dealer to buy the 72 I just happened to notice he had an ex-demo 102 going for reasonable money, so I figured it might be worth a listen before closing the deal. I brought it home (with a napsc) and hooked it up, not expecting it to be any better than the 72. I was pleasantly surprised though, that the 102 had all the PRaT of the 72, but with an added helping of detail resolution. Again, the hicap brought more control and depth to the bass, but a dual snaps would get you in the same ballpark.

The one problem with the 102 is that it needs at least the napsc to put it clearly ahead of the 72. The napsc powers the digital circuitry (the remote control and input switching) and this tends to degrade the single supply from the power amp, so the analogue circuitry (and therefore the sound ) suffers a bit as a result.

"Joe Petrik had a good description. Using a 72 as a reference point, he said the 102 is 2 units more detailed than a 72 but only one unit more organized. Thus, the 102 doesn't sound as coherent, all of a piece, as the 72. That's why I prefer the 72/Hi."

I just thought I’d point out that Joe owns a 102.

Mr Tibbs

just reviving an old post....

i bought a 72 for £200 and wasn't that impressed initially. however, after getting over the whole "listening to the amp and not the music" thing, i am pleased with the upgrade, although i now realise that the 42.5 is a criminally underrated and undervalued amp.

i should be getting a hicap tonight (this damn forum!) and will report on my findings. i am interested to hear what the difference will be between my avond*le modded snaps (shhhhhhh!) with its claims of being a supercap beater and the new hicap.

should be fun, especially since i also had some particularly fine new records arrive in the post this am.

no sign of my hicap.

royal mail?

right royal disgrace more like.