Pre-Amp sound similar to Conrad Johnson

I have also been taken in by the CJ sound. Almost bought the LS16...Until I heard the Pass Labs X-1 pre. At its price-point it is every bit as sweet as the corresponding CJ, but is MUCH clearer, more detailed and open, and thrives on balanced interconnect. My opinion, of course.

Hello Goone, Why not have your 30se upgraded to the 31se? It will give you what you're looking for and more! Two months ago I had my 50se upgraded to the 51se and the difference to me was mucically profound. The upgrade was staggering in my opinion and worth every penny. Good luck, Tom

Counterpoint SA 5.1 and upgrades by Altavistaaudio.com. Best I ever heard!

Are you looking for balanced inputs, outputs, or both? Only tube preamps that come to mind with both in/out are BAT and Atma-Sphere. Sonic Frontiers has XLR outputs, I think EAR has them. My Supratek has balanced outputs.

VAC Renaissance preamp has balanced in/out. I have not compared it to a CJ preamp but will say that it absolutely surpasses my previous Audio Research preamp in every aspect. The review in Stereophile is pretty much accurate although that was of the Signature version and I use the smaller Renaissance.