2. amps-preamps
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Good tube preamp w/ HT bypass

I've finally decided to snag an AVM30 for my pre-pro, and aragon 8008 amps for my amplification (or Sherbourne 7/2100 - I bought both, and will sell whichever I like less).

However, I keep hearing about tubes! I don't have any experience with them, but I'd love to give it a try. I've read that by combining SS amplification with tube preamps, I can preserve the bass control of the SS w/ the midrange of tubes.

SO - are there any preamps you can recommend to me to try and/or demo? I need it to have HT bypass, so I can use my HT rig separately from this...

I've read the Rogue Magnum 66 is good... The audio research sp-16l is supposed to be good... And the TAD-150 was recommended to me (http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/TAD-150.html) but I can't find any other information on it.

Non tube pres that have been recommended to me are the sonic euphoria plc and adcom 750; but i'm not sure if either would better the avm30.

Oh; budget would be $500-1000, used or new. Thanks for any recommendations!
kincade
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
BAT VK3i with remote would be at teh top of your price range. It has an HT (unity gain) bypass setting.
kincade OP
22 posts
 
Ok; so far we have:

Rogue Magnum 66 - 0 votes

The audio research sp-16l - 2 votes

Sonic Frontiers Line 1-3 - 2 votes

belles 21A - 1 vote

Anthem Pre 2L? - no votes

Looks like the Rogue and Anthem aren't too well known?

The SF line 3 is too much, as is the ARC sp-16l; I can't find any of them anywhere near to $1k. Do any of the above sound close to those?

Can anyone describe how these sound? Are they very accurate, or do they add a lot of "tube" to the sound?

Thanks again!
mattybumpkin
590 posts
 
Kincade,

I have not yet heard the Belles pre, but it will be arriving any day now. It is a hybrid, combining tubes and ss, a FET valve design I believe. Audio by Van Alstine also offers such a pre. May also be a name to consider, not sure of the features though.

Good luck,
tsmack
35 posts
 
I have the Anthem AVM20 for HT and a Cary SLP2002 tubed preamp for 2 channel. The Cary has a HT bypass and with the right tubes, the Cary preamp is an absolute steal used. I have compared it to the Bat VK30 and it stomps all over it. It is a little more than your budget at 1400-1600 used. Have you purchased the AVM30? If not then I know where you could get a great deal on a demo AVM20 which would free up some resources for a nicer 2 channel preamp. If not, then my vote is on the Anthem Pre-2LSE.
1markr
594 posts
 
Matty,

I don't believe that the 21a is a hybrid, but a true tube pre with an emitter follower configuration. I had the pre at one time and remember it having 2 12Au7s and no FETs. The pre sounded great after replacing the coupling caps with equivalent Auricaps and rolling in Mullard CV4003s instead of stock tubes.
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