Onkyo Preamp P-304

moetzmoet

moetzmoet

New Around These Parts
Joined
Jun 1, 2022
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2
I planned on using this preamp(Onkyo P-304) with my 700B after I finish with my WOPL work this winter. Any thoughts on this Pre or should I keep looking? Never heard anything bad and it's the only Pre I have left for duty since my P-388f imploded. Seems to handle duties in my man cave with the M504 amp. Sounds great to me but after aircraft carrier duty my hearing may not be what it used to be....
 
I used one with my Onkyo amp back before my first WOPL build. They are great after servicing. Yep, aircraft Carriers are noisy. I was on the Indy and the Forrestal.
 
From what I've read, the Onkyo Integra P-304 is a highly-regarded preamplifier. I have a number of Onkyo Integra components, I purchased from the original owner, last year. I intend to patch the works together for a system for one of the downstairs rooms.

Welcome to our forum!

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Nando.
 
Nando is showing the P-303 and its matching components. The preamp highly rated, limited flexibility. Tom Ishimoto had a hand in designing it, he is Northridge Electronics in Simi Valley now. He has posted about it on ak. I see Nando pic has the matching U-30 system expansion unit, the E-30 EQ, M505 amp and the T-909 tuner. Pre is supposed to be great for phono.

The entry level P-301 had remote control as its selling point and the M-501 power amp had 150wpc but these probably don't sound much better than a receiver.

i don't know the 304's sound quality. I don't think it is as good as the minimalist 303 but should be pretty decent if it is an integra unit. It was 560 in 1986 so it should be very good.
 
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I have a P 306RS that I just brought in from the repair pile. ( My shop is about as comfortable as a Pizza oven these days) I thought it was pretty great until something started to fail a couple years ago. I forget what was wrong.
Now my Classe' Audio DR5 preamp has dropped a channel & I'm without music.
I suspect the Onkyo may be easier for me to work on & I have a manual, so I'm about to dig in right now.
 
moetzmoet said:
I planned on using this preamp(Onkyo P-304) with my 700B after I finish with my WOPL work this winter. Any thoughts on this Pre or should I keep looking? Never heard anything bad and it's the only Pre I have left for duty since my P-388f imploded. Seems to handle duties in my man cave with the M504 amp. Sounds great to me but after aircraft carrier duty my hearing may not be what it used to be....
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Welcome to the Phoenix Audio Forum! There are lots of good preamps out there, but in my experience, features and performance are in an inverse relationship, all else being equal...which it rarely is.
 
I’ve found using the number of features as an order of magnitude of the price you can get these two things to align.

My old Perreaux seems to have found a balance- great sound and build quality and remote control!!!
 
It’s very well made and no sound if it’s own. I’m really pleased with my preamp.
 
Been using a Forte F44 and it is a very nice if not so terribly beautiful pre. Not as pretty as my Aragon but I still use it all the time really 100 % of the time. I am probably going to sell the Aragon just because I don't use it anymore. Also have a MOD Squad line drive. Talk about a nice little unit. Just really don't use it anymore.
 
My stuff has been sitting idle too…

Just the SX-880, Micro and some CD players around.
 
Other than my main rig, I have a complete Kenwood system from 1977 (including speakers and two cassette decks. The open reel deck is currently for sale and I’m looking for the original rack); two Tascam 122 mk. IIIs, Alesis HD24, the Nak deck I might finally get to, Tascam CDR-w402, Alesis Masterlink, pioneer sx-580 and 880, the BL-91, my phono pre and my headphone amp. Oh, the Kramer switching box too.

I think I can let some stuff go…
 
This might be a little optimistic but from what I have seen in last couple of years, vintage audio values are going to continue to skyrocket. If that indeed follows the projected path, Nando and many others are sitting on gold mines. So if you don’t need the $$$ now and have the room to store the gear, holding on to it a few more years might pay dividends.
 
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