Pre/Power Amplifiers

While Ken was auditioning the PREAMP II-S, I reached out to Nagra’s Audio Division Director, Matthieu Latour [pictured below], and project manager, Léonard Bacinello. ‘The PREAMP II-S is a pure tube amp – we use transistors only as active current sources for biasing the tubes’, says Léonard. The ECC83s, one per side, are used for the input and central stages, the latter setting the overall gain and driving the ECC81. That double triode has the option of +6dB gain – through feedback – and forms the PREAMP II-S’s final output stage.

Matthieu steps in and sets the scene for this launch. ‘Series II pays tribute to our heritage by the use of Roman numerals’, he reveals. ‘It’s a designation historically reserved for our most important recorders [the Nagra I was its first portable hi-fi recorder]. Over the past 75 years, only seven machines have carried this prestigious naming convention.’

So why not begin with a Series I? ‘We have a Series I but it is planned as a higher-tier range, positioned between Series II and the HD line. Once fully developed, Series II will replace the Classic Line, representing the next evolution of Nagra’s core design philosophy and aesthetic.’

Whatever the changes, the iconic Nagra Modulometer, identical to that used in the Reference and HD lines and echoing the meters found in the legendary Nagra IV-S and Nagra PL-P [see boxout], will be retained. ‘The Series II is conceived as a growing family’, confirms Matthieu, ‘and we are currently developing a matching power amplifier, the AMP II-S, slated for release in Q3 2026’. PM