"A Very Good Preamplifier"

Tube Sound and Transistor Power

The hybrid vacuum tube and solid state design of the beautiful Vincent SA-31 line stage preamplifier lets you have it all. It delivers the luxurious sound that can only be obtained with finely-made vacuum tube equipment as well as the power associated with solid state designs, including speed, reliability, and control. That's a difficult combination to beat, especially once you factor in the affordable price.

"The SA-31 is a very good preamplifier that... gives listeners a significant taste of the sound of higher-priced equipment," reports Chris Martens in the August 2007 issue of The Absolute Sound magazine. "The SA-31 produces a rich, seductive sound, whose signature characteristic is a midrange that is dynamically alive and leans just lightly to the warm side of neutral."

"Eminently Affordable"

When Vincent created the SA-31, the German audiophile company delved deep into research and development until each stage of the preamplifier provided exactly the results that the engineers had in mind. Extensive listening sessions complemented each stage of the engineering process to ensure that the SA-31 didn't simply look good on paper. It also had to deliver startlingly good real world performance.

"Vincent Audio's driving passion is to build serious high-performance audio products that are eminently affordable," observes Martens in The Absolute Sound.

Pure 'Class A' Output Stage

The vacuum tube output stage of the SA-31 uses a unique proprietary design configuration with a short signal path to create a delicate and detailed soundstage. For best sound quality, the output stage operates in pure 'Class A.'

Highly Precise Potentiometers

The SA-31 is equipped with highly precise potentiometers from ALPS for ultra-quiet, accurate tone and amplitude adjustment. The monoblock design in the amplifier sections for left and right channels help to achieve the best possible signal-to-noise ratio.

Four inputs give you the capability of connecting a tuner, CD player, tape deck, and more. A record out connection add to the flexibility. An extra preamp output gives you a convenient path for bi-amping your speakers.

In addition to the set of high-quality tone controls, the SA-31 includes a loudness switch for big dynamics even at low volume levels. This is a great idea from the days of classic hi-fi that Vincent has brought back with this highly capable preamp.

Owner’s Guide (1.1mb PDF)

• Hybrid vacuum tube and solid state design
• Twin monoblock design
• Short signal paths
• Precise ALPS volume control
• Four line-level inputs
• Pure 'Class A' output stage
• Tone controls and loudness switch
• Color: black/silver

• Frequency range: 20 Hz – 20 kHz, +/- 0.5 dB
• Output voltage: 2 V
• Input sensitivity: 150 mV
• Total harmonic distortion: < 0.1 % max. (1 kHz, 1 Watt)
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: > 90 dB
• Input Impedance: 47 k Ohm
• Inputs: 6 x RCA
• Outputs: 2 x RCA, 1 x Rec Out
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 17" wide, 3.1" tall, 11.8" deep
• Weight: 9 lbs.

"The SA-31 produces a rich, seductive sound, whose signature characteristic is a midrange that is dynamically alive and leans just lightly to the warm side of neutral. Together, these qualities help the preamp do a fine job of capturing subtle contours or inflections in both human and instrumental voices."

"One of the SA-31's greatest strengths is its ability to reproduce continuously shaded tonalities at the edges of notes -- shadings that give notes their shape and substance. Perhaps as a result, this preamp presents images that have a consistently pleasing, sculptural solidity -- never the flat, 'color-by-numbers' quality that some solid-state preamps exhibit."

- Chris Martens, The Absolute Sound, August 2007