Vacuum Tube Preamp for Solid State Power Amp Pairing

The sonic result of using a tube linestage feeding a solid state amp can be a little more unpredictable than solid state feeding solid state.  You should research impedance matching between linestages and amps.  The ideal electrical match would be a low output impedance of the linestage feeding a very high input impedance of the amp. Tube linestages tend to have higher output impedances and solid state amps tend to have lower input impedances meaning that there might be an electrical mismatch that will hurt the sound.  Supposedly, the input impedances of the amp should be at least ten times the output impedances of the linestage to avoid such mismatch.  But, even where there is no electrical mismatch, I have found that the sonic result of such a marriage is a bit unpredictable—a really good tube linestages may not sound very good with cerain solid state amps.

There are some practical considerations you should also consider.  Tube gear should not be left on all the time, while some people leave solid state gear on all of the time (solid state gear takes much longer to warm up and sound good which is why some keep it on).  If you intend on turning your tube linestage off or on while the amp remains on, you need to know if the linestage will emit loud noises while going through turn on and turn off.  If it does, you may be forced to turn off your amp each time you end a listening session and you turn off the linestage.

I wasn’t aware of this, thank you for your advice @larryi  @viridian  

There's a lot more to consider also.

How many tubes, ease of tube biasing, type of tubes, tube rolling, new or nos...

Let's not make this too complicated. You don't bias preamp tubes. Tube rolling is not a requirement. In my fifty years I have never thought about electrical compatibility between a preamp and amp and had a problem. So, I would choose a preamp for its sonic appeal and just do a quick check on compatibility. 

Lot of folks like the PS audio and it is in a different league  than the Schiit. 

Oops, right. No tube biasing!

Check out a VTL TL-2.5.  I have owned one for many years and sounds good with a solid state amp.

:You have a good budget.  A used Conrad Johnson preamp with a remote for volume would be another good choice.      CJ Premier 14 or later have remote volume

     Tube gear tends to vary more in sound than do solid state gear.  Different design, tube types employed, etc. have a bigger impact than differences in parts and design of good solid state gear—an Audio Note linestage will sound very different from an Audio Research linestage, for example. If you can, you should audition each candidate, and preferably in your system.  
     Trying different brands of tubes (tube rolling) is not something you must do, but, if after becoming familiar with your linestage, you wish to explore changes in the sound, tube rolling is an opportunity not afforded owners of solid state gear (no transistor rolling).

     You should be able to find tube gear with all of the features you like.  If balance control is not on your list, you might consider including it.  Tube gear can develop imbalances (a tube getting weak, tube socket getting dirty, etc.) that, if minor, can be dealt with by a balance control until it gets severe or you decide to chase down the cause.

Linear Tube Audio Micro Zotl mk2 

a great preamp and easy on tubes  check it out.

Audio Research SP-3-1A. Classic!

I might get attacked for this, but I am very happy with my McIntosh C220 tube (actually a hybrid design) preamp paired with my Arion Audio S500 class D amplifier.  McIntosh has its fans and it's detractors, but I love the thing.  One great quality of McIntosh tube preamps is that the outputs are good for long cable runs.  This allowed me to keep the amp closer to the speakers with shorter speaker cable runs.  Not all tube preamps will work well with long output cable runs.  To me, I get just enough tube warmth to mate with my clean and neutral ss amp.  No longer in production, used C220 preamps are widely available.  Check out Audio Classics.

Spatial Audio Labs "Raven" preamp. Really good!

I have a BAT VK 52 SE tube pre amp and Elecrtocomponiet AW180 solid state mono blocks and they pair wonderfully. I'm considering class D (GAN) mono blocks at some point.

I would look at the PrimaLuna series of tube preamps. They are PrimaLuna EVO 100, EVO 200, EVO 300, and EVO 400.

(Make sure you look at the preamps and not the integrated models, as the naming is similar.)

They are built like tanks, sound very good/great value, and they are - if/when you get to that point - easy to tube roll with.

+1 LTA  MZ2 or Velo. Or they have a full preamp if you need more inputs. 

Left field but pairing UK SS with a classic but brilliant hand made UK EAR Yoshino 864L or even an 868L two Tim De Pavaracini designs that are beautiful to look at having an output impedance of 100 ohms. It has several fully balanced XLR inputs and outputs via couple of stereo line RCA’s or balanced XLR’s. It’s transformer coupled and uses Custom selected PCC88/7DJ8's otherwise known ECC88/6N8 and if you select the PL model you have a world class jumper configurable MM/MC Phono stage tube driven akso. It sounds brilliant paired with a meaty SS amp or equally at home in an all tube set up. They are not cheap but neither are they stupid money. I have the EAR912 having previously owned an 868PL so can vouch for its brilliant sonics and black background. They are also very heavy and built like battleships.

Go for the schiit.  It has a feature that allows you to go back-and-forth between solid state and tube. It's controlled by remote. It's got a great sound.

It looks really cool.  It's well-made. And you can't beat the price.

I recently went with the Primaluna Evo 400 with my solid state amps, great combo!

if you can do without balanced. Connects the Evo 300 is your best option, I wanted the balanced so opted for the 400 model.  Gorgeous, built very well, weighs over 55 lbs, sounds very smooth. 

What pre are you using now, what improvements are you looking for over that, and what sound characteristics are most important to you?  This info will result in recommendations much more suited to your specific tastes/needs.  And don’t worry too much about output impedance as it’s a non issue with your amp for almost all preamps on the market. 

These sub $5k, rated class A gears might be viable choices...

Audio-GD Vacuum HE1

Lab12 Pre1

PrimaLuna EVO 400

Rogue Audio RP-7

+1

Used:

Conrad Johnson

Audio Research

VAC

This!

This is a Hovland HP-100 preamp.  To over-simplify things, there are two types of tube preamps, the kind that appeals to the audiophile side of you, and then the one where you just like to sit, relax, and listen to music because it sounds warm, has a full sound, inviting, and takes the edge off music.  This Hovland is the latter.  If you want ultra detail & speed, that'd be Audio Research.  I have one of these Hovland pre's and it plays well with my solid state amps from Pass, Esoteric and Audio Research.  Lastly, be sure you use a good power cord, like a Shunyata Python CX or Zitron, or even better yet, a Anaconda CX/Zitron.  If you got the bucks for the newer Alpha V2 or even better Sigma V2 power cords, those are something else.  One of these cords plugged into my AQ Niagara 7000 really makes a nice difference.  

I am not that familiar with linestages in your price range, but I did notice that some very good vintage ones were mentioned, like the EAR and Hovland.  However, I believe these did not come with remote control.  I think remote control of volume is a necessity, which does remove those few brands that don’t offer it, like Audio Note (Audio Note is also disqualified by price, but certainly not by sonic considerations).

@terenthia Since your amp has balanced inputs you might consider taking advantage of that. We don't make a balanced preamp in your price range but you might be able to find one of our MP-3 preamps used for that price.

The advantage of balanced lines is better cable immunity; IOW they can be more neutral and so more musical.

I like the MP3 and its big brother too.  But, I don’t recall it coming with remote control.  

I love the tube preamp with a solid state or hybrid smp.  My modded JC1 Parasound monoblocks sounded fantastic with the Aric Audio Motherlide II tube preamp.  I also have the PSAudio BHK 300 monblock hybrid amps fed by the Motherlode XL tube preamp - awesome.  I have also paired the PSAudio M1200  class D hybrid monoblocks with Aric Audio tube preamps with great success.  One reason I like tubes in the preamp is that they are lower maintenance than tubes in amps - at least ones without automatic biasing.  I also like the solid state amp grip better on the low end of the frequency spectrum.

Yes, Aric at Aric Audio should be your next call. His tube gear, easily competes with anything at 3-4X the price. 

@terenthia @audioman58 - I also recommend the LTA Microzotl level 2 preamp. It’s really a marvelous piece of equipment. You get spaciousness and detail wrapped in a subtle tube tone. Since purchasing it, I’ve lost interest in considering other preamps. Highly recommended. 

@bluethinker same here...