Cheap

Balance Control is off

Agree with Steve. This is a great unit. Extremely clean. I got mine for $125.00 as well.

Only problem is with the balance. I've read a similar complaint elsewhere. You'll have to tweek it a bit to the left, to get it centered.

There than that...open it up. Extremely simple.

Killer bass, flexible

very harsh top-end/treble

I got this used cheap, and hated it. First, the low-end extension just blew me away - awesome low-end! But the highs were just way too harsh. I tried different interconnects to tame the top-end (Monster M550i did the job, but also killed some of the low-end extension) and was unsatisfied. So, I sold it, got a used Adcom GFP565, and I'm happy as a clam - what a wonderful preamp (the Adcom).
I'd ONLY recommend the Pro 5 if you have speakers that are very dull in the high-end.

Similar Products Used:

NAD Monitor preamp, Adcom GFP565

Passive mode is awesome

Balance control is off

Taking the comments from the first reviewer, I listened to this thing is passive mode all weekend long. One word: awesome. Everything seemed to fit in to place. It was like liquid-layering was better, soundstage was improved, imagine was better, dephy was INCREDIBLE. I'm not going back to active mode.

I can't tell you how good this thing is passive. Crank up the vlume to comoensate and enjoy how smooth this thing is.

Regarding the Adcom that the previous review was using: I think that's probably a bad match for this pre amp, and you need to take a look at what kind of interconnects and source you're using too.

First, you'll need a decent source upstream, especially for passive mode...and the interconnects will have to be of a caliber good enough to transmit as much info as possible to the amp.

I've got a Cambridge CD6 with Nordost interconnects...this combo tends to be a little grainy, but I interpret that as clairity...and alot of producers just don't know how to record/mix drums and cymbals well.

This amp is totally different that what I've been used to it as...passive is the wasy to go for serious listening.

given the flexibility of the unit, I'll up my rating.