Nagra’s elite preamp brings today’s tech to its incredible hi-fi heritage

The elite Swiss hi-fi brand Nagra has a long pedigree in music. The brand first started producing high-end hi-fi components in 1998 but its history goes back much further.

Its reel-to-reel tape machines were used to record classic albums by artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and its audio recorders have been used for multiple movies that have won Oscars for their sound.

Since 1998 Nagra has produced a wide range of high-end audio equipment, and the new Preamp II-S is the beginning of a whole new product family. It's designed to sit between the money-no-object Reference series and the comparatively affordable Compact series, and benefits from some of the Reference series' advanced technology.

Nagra Preamp II-S: key features and pricing

The Series II features the iconic Nagra Moldulometer, the very accurate and enaging visual channel monitor that takes its inspiration from the Nagra IV-S reel to reel recorder. And visually it takes its cues from the historic PL-P tube pre-amp as well as the current HD and Reference lines.

That means the same high-contrast OLED display as the HD Phono and Reference DAC, a precision rotary encoder with a fluted aluminium knob derived from the HD phono, an external power supply (which you can spec the Preamp II-S without if you already have a Nagra PSU) and a compact footprint.

Inside the Preamp II-S is the latest generation of tubes also used by the Classic Phono, HD and Reference series. There are two selectable gain settings, and while Nagra says that most systems will benefit most from using the 0dB gain setting "where it behaves almost like a passive preamplifier while maintaining an exceptionally low output impedance of 9 ohms" there is also a +6dB gain setting.

Dynamic range is 125dB for an "extraordinarily quiet sonic background", and Nagra says that the Preamp II-S shares its musical DNA with the Classic Preamp: "accuracy without a ‘clinical’ character; an expansive soundstage; lifelike dynamics and exceptional silence." The new Series II builds on this with greater transparency, improved spatial definition, enhanced dynamics and "a deeper sense of musical flow".

The Nagra Preamp II-S is £21,998 ($27,900 / €23,500 / about AU$43,500) including its PSU; without the PSU it's £18,348.