Tube Curious - Preamp Suggestions

IF its leaning a bit towards the analytical currently, ARC should be a very good choice to nudge it properly in the right direction.

I use an arc sp16 with the same amps and it is a match made made in heaven, hard to beat IMHO. Other recent ARC pre-amps I have heard ( I think I heave heard the ref 3)sound similarly good and can likely only be even better in terms of frequency extension, dynamic headroom, etc. But frankly the sp16 is hard to fault on its own as well. Does require period tube replacement, 6 total, one premium tube with very low noise levels for the phono section specifically.

The ARC is fine. I also would recommend any of the Shindo Amps. Very smooth balanced sound. It will transform your system
Alan

Well I'm going to go ahead and disagree with the first two responses. I've owned a few ARC preamps, including the Ref 3. If you are looking for a more musical, less analytical sound, the ARC sound is not for you. ARC represents the more modern, transparent, articulate tube sound, not the older, warm and musical tube sound.

If you are seeking more musical sound, I would suggest that you look towards conrad johnson, Cary, Shindo.

BAT preamps are definitely not analytical. Maybe not as lush as Cary, but add a good amount of the tube "magic"

Canary is another worth looking at in that price range