Preamp recommendation pre amp

Get yourshelf a Conrad Johnson Premier 17LS which will match with McIntosh power amp but I suggest you to step up to the McIntosh MC602 SS or MC2102 vacuum tube. I have ownwed 17LS and MC2102 for a year and I still love their sound. The more you listen to the more you like. They are simple incredible and awesome match but you should connect them with a pure silver ICs like Kimber Kable Select 1030.

I think the placement of your B&W N802 contributes a lot to the sound you hear now. Try to hear N802 in less than a meter, you'll see N802s sound very different from leanness.

Hello,

What about the new McIntosh 2200 tube pre amp? I thought it sounded very nice and would probably solve your current problems and would work very well with your current McIntosh amp. I also like the Conrad Johnson gear but the Mac choice may have better synergy....just a thought.

Again, this is the cables forum...

I have had some experience with ML 38, 38S and 380S. They are all wonderful preamps. Highly recommended. The 38 series seems to do well with the stock power cord.

As for your cables, leanness usually indicates a problem with the speaker cables. If you are getting the high-frequencies with good focus, but it sounds a bit dry, this is usually the speaker cables. Good speaker cables may give you the lifelike "sparkle" and eliminate the granularity.

If the focus is not razor-sharp, then it is the interconnects. The IC's also give you bass tightness.

I let my stereophile subscription lapse about six years ago when they started writing about powercords. I bought into the interconnect and speaker cable and heard the improvement, but power cords were just too much. A little over a year ago I resubscribed and saw they were still pushing the same stuff. I thought, what the heck... I went down to the local HiFi shop and bought an inexpensive power cord. It cost about $125. It was a Transparent Audio Powerlink Plus. Sure enough it did work. It seems like most power cords remove grain from the sound.
I'm using a Tice Powerblock and I think it has helped the sound quite a but but if I had to buy something now I would get the PS Audio P 300. The nice thing about the Tice is I can run my amp through it bit the P 300 is too small for that.
I like Krell pre-amps so I don't know that I'd have any credibility in your eyes but I have never heard the problems with the sound that some people complain about with the Krell equipment. My KRC sounds fantastic and yes I have had expensive tube gear and NO I wouldn't do it again. They aren't worth the trouble.