Looking for a good pre-amp to mate with Cary V12i

I have owned and very much liked a Supratek Syrah, but I prefer my current preamp, a Herron VTSP1A/166 even more. It is the quietest tubed preamp I've ever owned, with a wonderfully natural and organic sound. It has plenty of fine detail but it never shoves it in your face. Also the build quality seems top notch, one area where I had some concern with my Supratek. Though beautiful it seemed a bit fragile, especially the tube sockets. I'm sure I'll get flamed for my comments by the Supratek crowd, but remember I did like the preamp and I am entitled to my own opinion. Good luck!

Jond,

Thanks for your response. I have been following the Supratek discussions on Audiogon and recall seeing a post or two of yours there. The input sensitivity of my Cary is 3.5 volts, would the Herron be a good match in that respect?

Try a c-j 17LS Series 2!

Good Luck!

Clio09,
The output impedance of my Herron is 100 ohms nominal. I don't know enough about electronics to say if that would make it an appropriate match but something tells me it would do just fine. Perhaps someone else can weigh in with a more technical answer.

Jond,

Thanks for the response. Reason I ask is that I have read some posts regarding matching based on whether the amp has a high or low sensitivity rating. My current preamp, about 9 years old now is a N.E.W. P-3 (designed and built by Cary). It has 10db of gain and 400 ohms output impedance. Like you all this tech stuff is somewhat foreign to me. Dennis Had recommended a low cost upgrade to me that would allow me to use 6CG7s instead of 12AU7s in the pre-amp giving me an better sound. But I thought before I did that I'd look around for alternatives. A new Herron is probably out of my price range, but a used one could work. The match is the most important thing though.

Can anyone else out there weigh in on this? Thanks