Sire preamp vs sadowsky preamp?

Unfortunately it is like comparing a $40 bottle of wine with a $200 bottle. There is no accurate way to predict which you will prefer based upon price or the opinions of other people. Each will have its own flavor.

I will say that people praise the Sadowsky for the tone, whereas people praise the Sire for the tone considering the price.

 

Well, you can't just go out and buy the Sire preamp for building projects, either. They'll sell replacement parts to someone who has one, but they haven't made the preamp available separately otherwise. (Though I did manage to score one. )

 

Nothing, using it in a parts build. I do have 4 Sires, but I got the Sire preamp from another user here (who got it as a replacement but then didn't need it apparently).

 

The $200 bottle would be the Sire! The Sire has a much more complex preamp than the Sadowsky. Sadowsky is two band, boost only. The Sire is four band, boost and cut, including two band variable mids.

Don't misunderstand me, the Sadowsky has significantly better overall build quality, and the hardware is much better. Sire, however, has the more complex preamp.

 

But maybe the $40 bottle of wine is the more complex.... Did you just judge wine by the price tag?

 

The Sadowsky preamp delivers the Sadowsky sound, so it does what it is supposed to do. It just happens to be relatively simple.

 

Can't go wrong with a aadowsky preamp
I didn't like the sweepable mid on the sire preamp nor the sizzle top end
I never liked the sweepabe mid thing but that's just me
I like the frequency points on the sadowsky and the tone control
Simple and extremely effective imo

 

I have owned a Sadowsky pre, but have sold it years ago. It does what it does very good. Sadowsky has decided for a two band design for reasons. He came to the conclusion that it sounds better than the 3-way designs he experimented with. A 2-band design has a mid-eq, just lower the highs and lows!
I have never heard a Sire with the Exception of a Marcus Miller concert on german tv.
I can't decide what is better, but I like the way, Sadowsky explains his decision.

When it comes to me: I love simple EQs. With two bands of variable mids, I would just create nonsense most of the times I regret later when listening to what I did. But that's just me.

 

I always had a hard time remembering how I got sounds when I had four band Peavey Millenniums, however, Music Man Bongo four band preamps seem very straightforward.

 

I think the Sire preamp is more transparent, but my experience is very limited. Sire owners need to respond.

 

+1 : blind taste test between $2 Charlie Shaw & $80 bottle of wine, & 2-buck Chuck can come out on top. How about you buy a V7 & record it, then install the Sadowsky pre & record the modded V7? You can even post the recordings here with a poll so readers can vote.

 

I think there's probably rather limited overlap between those familiar with the Sire preamp and those familiar with the Sadowsky. Wish I could compare, but I've never even seen a Sadowsky in person. I agree the Sire is very transparent. With the preamp trimpot set to even, and the active controls all at 12:00, it's hard for me to tell any difference in tone between active and passive. That's why I bump the preamp volume a touch, so I can easily tell "which side I'm on".

 

If you buy the V7, how about playing and getting to know it before wanting to mod it. I've had both and they don't sound all that different. Except I think Sire has more ass and glass than the Sadowsky preamp. Also, I couldn't get any aftermarket pickups to fit easily into my V7. It would take a little sanding/routing to make it perfect. Make no mistake, the V7 sounds awesome in stock form that I ended up leaving it alone.

 

I've had them both and prefer the Nordstrand pre-amp