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it’s so bad that m any would rather play it through a Sonos. It can sound britle, m idband-forward,opaque and m urky;there’s very litle to com m end its recording quality. Yet with the Ultim a Pre 3 when driven by Chord’s own Hugo TT2 (HFC 468)DAC,the diferent layers in the m ix seem to gently unpeel,so it’s suddenly pos ible to identify and folow althe respective instrum ents. That’s a sign of great transparency, a preamp that adds nothing in terms of britlenes or tonaledge, and instead cuts throughthem ixto telthelistenerwhat’srealy going on. This is evident with Bily MacKenzie’s distinctive, almost operatic vocals.Tonalythey’re hard and steely,and can realy grate – especialy when he belts out choruses.YettheUltim aPre3justgetsonwith things,leting thatstark-sounding voice push forward and up,outinto the room .Itsounds icyalright,butnotnasty. Atthe sam e tim e,there’sno hintofnasal congestion; the Ultim a Pre 3 is gentle, m easured and forensicalydetailed.Playsom e m id-Seventies rock from The Eagles,such as New Kid In Town,and from the firstbaryou’re able to feel the song’s natural analogue warm th aswelasthe lovelyrich tim bre ofthe instrum ents.TheChord’sneutralitym eansthat the ful flavourofthe recording isalowed to flood out.Everything from the FenderRhodes keyboardsto thecrispysoundsofthediferent electric guitars is clear to hear. Vocal harm onies are just lovely, so redolent of a sadly now-vanished tim e in m usic when they were considered wonderful things in them selves. Despite this sun-drenched Seventies sound,there’salotofenergygoing onand the pream p conveysthistoo –bothinthedynam ic crescendos of each chorus and the tight syncopationofthem usicians.There’sno sense of the track sounding slow or laboured whatsoever. Such rhythm ic alacrity m akes m odern dance m usichuge fun.Setagainstm y reference M F Audio Pas ive Pre,the Chord seem s livelier and m ore fleet of foot when asked to play back clas ic ninetiestechno like K Klas ’Rhythm IsA M ystery. This ‘banging’ house track com es over withgreatspeed and m otiveforce.TheUltim a
Pre 3 givesanim ble,lithe sound that neversoundsslow outofthe blocks; it’s wel able to getinto the groove and party.That’s thanks in no sm al part to the pream p’s very taut and dextrous bas ;itdelivers the song’s synth bas line with great zeal and perfect timing. Further up the frequency spectrum everything is perfectly in tim e too; this pream p sounds seam les and self-efacing throughout the entire listening program m e. It’s hard to pick faults. I have heard som e designs,atsignificantly higher prices, sound more translucentwithanevenlargerstereo soundstage than the Ultim a Pre 3 is able to m uster. Yet I don’t think anything atornearits price com es close to itsoveralabilty.You need to go to something with a radicaly
design – such as a top valve pream p orpas ive –to im prove on it,and even then it’sdebatable. Conclusion Combining clas-leading sound quality with an atractive and distinctive visual look and feel, Chord Electronics’ Ultim a Pre 3 pream p is–inthreewords–hard to beat. It’s a real clas act which, although expensive, stil ofers greatvalue form oney.Ifyou’re in the m arket for a product such as this,it’san es entiallisten
Around the back are five analogue inputs,two balanced XLRs and three unbalanced RCAs – plus a separate AV bypas input
MUSICATHOME+ 41
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