Cary SLP 2002 or Joule LA 100 Mk III or?w/PassX250


All the threads about SS amp/tube preamp has me curious to give this combo a try. Possibly looking at these contenders to replace my Pass X2 preamp.

-Cary SLP 2002, the XLR is a bonus for the X250.
-Joule LA 100, Mk III

Any other recommendations are welcome, budget is around $2k or less, looking for less sterile sound, more of what tubes are all about. (AR will not work as per them (impedance issues). I've been thru all the previous threads on this subject, looking for more. Thanks & happy new year!
128x128pehare
Reb1208 - Regarding your slp 2002, what do you mean by - "The gain stage has been loaded down to give more range on the volume control." I'm thinking of getting an slp 2002, and i need all the info i can get.

Thanks
Paul
SLP2002 gain is very high.
If you mate it with a low sensitivity poweramp, then you will have too much gain in small-medium size rooms. This means that you cannot easily regulate the volume control because it will be too high.
You can also lower the gain with 6CG7 tubes and/or attenuators.
The SLP-2002 was designed for use with tube amps that have a high input sensitivity and low gain. Rather than use 6FQ7/6CG7 tubes that reduce gain. You could send the pre-amp back to Cary. They will install some resistors in the volume control circuit board to reduce gain. Then this pre-amp will mate with any amp on the market. You could probably even bring it to a local technician, the mod is simple to install.