Preamp under $2,000 used

Well, I am a big fan of Ayre, as well as Parasound. How about a CJ tube though? You might need/like the color. 

Belles

There are a couple of conrad johnson pre-amps currently listed on this site. No affiliation with either seller. CJ is a premier manufacturer of tubed pre-amps and support their products very well.  

Chuck  

Get CJ or ARC good stuff many have cheap prices.These are great companies with wonderful service.Get one very soon we all want to know what you get.

Thanks for the replies, I am more interested in a sold state, but maybe I should be open to tubes. I don't know how reliable and how long they go before needing service or new tubes. 

This is a shameless plug,  but I have one for sale here on Agon which is a perfect match... T+A Elektroakustik .... Read about them on Agon. Extremely nice gear. 

Conrad Johnson ET3-SE.  With the Telefunken 6922 tube, I think it comes close to the ET5 in my A system.  It's a really nice tube preamp.
No affiliation, none for sale; just love the sound, quality and value of CJ products.

I forgot to mention that the ET3-SE from Conrad Johnson operates with a single 6922 tube.  I rolled the tubes at about 50 hours and have not changed them since.  I was worried about changing tubes and the expense, but we are going on 2 years of heavy use (couple of hours almost every day) on 1 system or the other, and they sound great.

I have some extra Audio Refinement (YBA) gear. Preamp, matching CD and tuner also. 

4hannons, When I said reviewed I simply meant I've read about, read reviews on those and a few others. I'm not looking to throw another $5-10,000 in my system , it sounds very good with the Anthem as preamp, OPPO Bd105 as music player and aforementioned Levinson 532h amp and Revel speakers. I'm just wanting to get a little more refinement and resolution than the Anthem can provide. 
I've heard tube preamps in a couple other systems, one with Revel F208s, sound very good. Don't know between tubed or solid state which would be the quietest, blackest background and refined articulate sound. I know my amp has very capable refined sound, just think my Anthem is good but holding things back a bit. 

I just purchased a Hegel preamp because I own the Hegel H300 integrated and it sounds fantastic. I am teaming up the Hegel preamp with a pair of Classe ct-m300 monoblocks using xlr with very good results. 

Look at a Krell KAV-280p preamp and then re-cap the power supply.  Make sure to increase the 4x3300uf main power supply capacitors to 4x6800uf.  This makes a huge difference and fixes the typical Krell "cold and bright" sonic signature.  Cost of the preamp is typically $1200-1400.  Cost of capacitor parts is probably $50-60 plus labor.

Modwright SWL 9.0 Anniversary Edition
Modwright LS-100
(Owned an earlier SWL 9.0 and moved up to the LS 36.5)
Strongly recommend the older 9.0 against any ARC used under $2500; can’t speak for the current 9.0 but I’m sure it’s better. Modwright’s have great PRAT - not big colored tube sound but very musical and revealing. I don’t have a Modwright dealer nearby so bought directly from Dan and he gave me a great deal.

Outside your budget but they’re getting closer with the newer unit out. Pass Labs XP-10. Don’t see any used ones currently so might be best to call Mark at Reno HiFi.

No doubt your Levinson and Revel’s are worthy of a very nice preamp. Be nice if you can bump your budget up a little as I think you’ll find out you’re just starting to get to the better units.

Our local Revel / Levinson dealer really likes Rogue Audio in this price range. Used Rogue 99 might be something to look at - I’ve not heard the Rogue’s personally but I should drag one home for the fun of it.
Good luck.

Classe could be a good choice. Because of their state of restructuring, the prices of their goods have dropped. CP800 is going for around the $2000.00 mark. A great deal. I sold a CP500 for the crazy price of $1200.00 Joe

Audio Research LS5 mkii

fully balanced
magical sounding

keep their value for a reason

Audio Research.  Used to be quite the synergistic match with ML for Thiels.  Pretty sure it will work well with your Revels.  Keep us posted.  Best....

Initm, thank you, understood. There are so many rabbit holes to go down in audio. As soon as you think you have your pre where you want, then you begin to question your source, or cables, or whatever. Therefore, I have a question for you: when you listen to music do you often find it difficult to turn off? If so, then you probably don’t need to change anything. If you don’t, then you must find the weakest link. I actually got lucky when I replaced my pre and found the sweet spot. Music is VERY difficult to turn off now. Not that I have a perfect system, but for now I’m feeling good about it.

lnitm

I would look at the Shiit Freya has SE and XLR, can be passive, tube or solid state changeable on the fly to suit your flavour.
Has remote volume, 4 inputs, and has maybe the best volume pot ever, 128 positions microprocessor-controlled relay-stepped attenuator .
All for $699

And you can send it back if not happy.

Comes with some pretty good creds by the designer Mike Moffat who made Theta Audio what it was when it was on top.

http://www.schiit.com/products/freya

Cheers George

4hannons, Thanks for response, yes I do have a hard time turning off, some things sound amazing, its broadening my listening scope of music. Cables are pretty good, Kimber speaker cables and Audioquest Columbia RCA. Yes you are correct you can also rethink or read reviews on different components and cabling and wonder, I think some things may be irrelevant once you get to a certain level of good components/ cables just a matter of opinion.

Thanks to all for feedback, Conrad Johnson sounds like a great option and a few others. I was really hoping for more feedback on Levinson since my amp is Levinson and Ayre or Parasound- solid state type preamp. Although this has perked my interest on some tubes suggestions. 
Oh and if anyone has not tried Tidal HiDef it's pretty amazing. 
Thanks! 

Initm, I’ve never owned Conrad Johnson, but heard it recently at a dealer...very rich and full sounding, but a bit too soft, I like a punchier sound with dynamics and detail. Music should be fun to listen! I currently own tube and ss pre’s. I don’t notice ss is any quieter than tube, if that’s a concern. Getting advice here on Agon is great, but only takes you so far, at some point you just have to jump in the pool. Please keep us posted on your interesting journey. 

Audible Illusions M3A.

There's a Pass Labs x2.5 that I'd think would be a significant improvement in your system and is under $1500.  I'd put this in the "you just can't go wrong with this" category given your price range and goals. 

However, since you're also open to ideas on the tube front, for $2k (or maybe less with a metal case) you can have Don Sachs build you one of his SP14 preamps.  If you call him and discuss your setup and needs he'll probably give you some good thoughts, and as a big bonus I believe you have a short trial period so little risk involved.  This is what I'd do as this could potentially get you to the "truly special" product category, so I'd encourage you to at least give Don a call (no association BTW).  Hey, it's free.  Anyway, best of luck in your quest. 

As always, with questions like this you get as many recommendations  as the number of folks responding and mostly personal favorites. I don't think you'll hear first hand experience from someone who has tried different preamps with those particular amps but I can fairly confidently tell you if you mostly listen to jazz, blues, or music with female/male vocals, you'll be impressed if you put a good quality tube preamp in front of the ML amplifiers, or any high quality SS amplifier. This is of course if you're not looking for an absolute neutral sound which most tube preamps will to deliver. If musical "truth" is important to you, a high quality SS preamp is probably a better option. Just my 2 cents.

Kalali,  Yes I am looking for a neutral true to the music sound. Why I like the Revels so much. Thanks for your feedback. 

Soix is right on with the Pass Labs x2.5. It's a great preamp and Pass Labs is second to none where customer service is concerned. Joe

Hi , why don’t you email your question to Don Sachs ? I currently have a Rogue RP-1, and wouldn’t recommend it . Modwright would be nice , but I would have a phone conversation with Mr. Sachs. Even if you don’t buy from him , you will get some solid advise . I’m sorry I’m too inexperienced to give you a recommendation with more depth . But this is one of those “ System Synergy “ equations , that will have a profound impact on your system . Please post your results and also after some time to tweak . Good Results , I’m sure you’ll find ! ( Yoda ).

I will, in a few days, have an Audible Illusions modulus 3a pre for sale. $1,800.00, new tubes, cosmetically perfect. This is a giant killer, just superb and a very good phono section. 

To correct Georgehifi slightly…the Freya has 5 inputs, 2 balanced and 3 single ended, and 3 outputs, 2 single ended and one balanced. I've had one for 6 months or so and think it's sort of amazing, and really there's nothing quite like it out there. It's so inexpensive I've piled up more 6SN7GTB tubes (I had a couple already in my single ended power amp) to play with and am still under a grand total in the thing, including a Schiit Loki EQ that's also a gem. El cheapo a mundo! 

Cary SLP-98.  There is one on Audiogon right now, with phono stage and a desirable F1 upgrade.  You could probably negotiate very close to $2,000.  You'll be hard pressed to do better for $2k.  I own one (without phono stage) and it's awesome, very musical, very quiet, responds well to tube rolling.

"I am looking for a neutral true to the music sound.."

I may be in the minority here but the main reasons for getting a preamp are multiple inputs, volume control, extra gain, and perhaps more importantly, the "flavor" it could add to the music. If your objective is something true to music which is difficult to measure anyway, you should definitely audition before you buy. I also wouldn't rule out a passive preamp if you can find one to fit into your system. 

If you can find one on the used market, a Don Sachs 6SN7-based preamp should be a consideration.

They don’t come up for sale very often, however. 

I'd look at Audio Research SP-6a's, 6b's, and SP-8's.  Have their caps and critical resistors upgraded to modern high quality ones, and be happy for a long, long time.  This can be done for under $2000, and if you have or plan to add phono gear, these are an even greater bargain as the ARC phono preamps of this era were superb (although MM only).

If you can read (I presume you can), study a bit of electronics and build your own using LM4562 and a few other parts. You will save $2k and build something you can be proud of.

kalali
"I am looking for a neutral true to the music sound.."
I also wouldn’t rule out a passive preamp if you can find one to fit into your system.

+1 on the passive for neutrality and dynamics, this is why Wolf and I both love the Schitt Freya.
As it’s everything, and got everything, passive, active tube, active solid state, xlr,se, remote and the best volume potentiometer you can get. all for $699
If you can’t find the perfect match with this, then something in the rest of your system has a big problem.

Cheers George

Georgehifi and I should at least get free t-shirts from Schiit…I haven't "auditioned" piles of preamps and the one the Freya replaced is a serious dual mono Kavent/Vincent beast, but I like tubes, and the Freya certainly "seems" to work really well. Interestingly, switching between the passive/FET/tube modes via the remote keeps everything honest in a way I like...

My favorite preamp is from Don Sachs.  It is by far the most musical preamp I have ever had.  I previously had CJ, HK, Berning, Modwright, Belles, and a few others I know forget, and the Don Sachs preamp is clearly the best.  

Owner of both Don Sach's DS2 6SN7 Tube Pre-Amp and Kootenay KT88 Tube Amp; an Outstanding combination that evokes a life-like performance in your listening 

Definitely the Ayre K5xeMP, basically the latest iteration, though it may be a bit above 2K used.

To add to that, I own the Ayre k5xeMP, and I love it. It has an open, smooth sound, maybe a touch of sweetness, has one of the best volume controls I have ever had the pleasure of using. Fully balanced, dead quiet. Replaced a Dehavilland Ultraverve 3 and is better than it. Though I may soon put it on the market as I am very happy with my new tube integrated and I am not planning to keep my SS separates.

Well after much deliberation and looking for good deal on used preamp I found an Ayre K-5x it it sounds fantastic! Whole new level of refined sound, much sweeter highs and more extended  Vocals are very smooth and natural. I notice pianos, horns and live music sounds much more realistic.Live guitars sound like you are there in an intimate live setting, just amazing when listening to Dire Straits live. 
Now waiting to trade RCA interconnects for XLR for the next step up and better gain, Ayre recommends XLRs for best sound. I'll report back. 

 PS Audio 5.5 
It`s over 30 years old, but will hold It`s own against anything under $2,000 used, And would sound even better with a rebuild.
The phono stage is first class.
Look at all the reviews on it.
They are very rare to find.  PS Audio doesn`t fix them anymore because they don`t have the parts.   I have one that is mint, and will never sell it.

I always think that the individuals ears and what they hear as the owner of the stereo system is the most important. You have to consider your room size and your favorite gender and the type of music you mostly listen to and if it sounds good to you sit tight because you’ll never cover all the bases.

If you are lucky enough to find one Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5, which is essential to max performance