Plinius M-12

With an original MSRP of $4,000 and an excellent phono section, this is one of the great classic preamps from the Nineties. This particular unit is special – having been modified and upgraded by Vince Galbo of Galbo Audio Designs – a specialist in upgrading and servicing Plinius gear—only a year ago, and rechecked in June 2018.  Those upgrades include new capacitors and circuit board upgrades and essentially make thisPlinius not only a brand new unit but a significant improvement over the original, ready for many years of quality listening. 

The original flagship preamp of the Plinius line, the M12P became the first PLINIUS model to appear in a solid aluminum chassis, and is a wonderful-sounding preamp that exudes a high quality, no nonsense presence through its solid appearance.  Designed without a remote feature, the M12P was kept to its "bare" minimal circuitry to preserve its purity in sound reproduction.

The M12 uses an "on board" power supply which consists of a large value toroidal transformer and a tightly regulated initial power supply system. This unit also has an outstanding phono stage that consists of a FET amplifier without overall feedback and includes the ability to adjust overall gain and allows for impedance matching, in a design similar to a tube circuit, followed by the high frequency equalization. This in turn is followed by an active feedback low frequency stage.  As upgraded, this unit is the perfect choice for someone who wants that “warm” analog sound without the hassle and limitations of tubes.

Healthy, finger-sized, finely machined matched metal knobs are also there for balance and volume. The rear features gold-plated teflon inset RCA's jacks for phono, aux, video, tape 1, tape 2, and CD plus a switch selectable XLR type balanced input for CD. Balanced main out XLR's along with two pair of RCA's, also as main outputs, with the two pair of record-out feeds insure that every other system device is fed and controlled here.All signal wiring is by Siltech. All switching is done by high quality silver contact relays and upgraded audiophile quality potentiometers.

The Plinius M12P has superb bass performance, allowing the superiority of the best digitally recorded bass to make itself felt and heard. Atop this exemplary bass, it represents a well-balanced and continuous midrange. In the top octaves, it shows essentially none of the traditional transistorized failings. The Plinius M12 also casts a very good soundstage. Dynamics and sound-staging converge when it is necessary to maintain instrumental separateness during moderately loud to very loud passages. The M12 keeps things in their proper places, with no defocusing of image boundaries even in demanding passages, and most taxing portions of recordings.

Reason for selling this unique piece: I decided to blow a bunch of money on an MSB Analog DAC with volume control, so no longer need this wonderful preamp.

Please note that the rear right corner has a slight dent from shipping to Galbo Audio Design, which is small and purely cosmetic.