Beyond Ayre Pass and Rowland

Ricred1,
There are many excellent tube preamps in the price range you stated. Here’s a short list. Three I’ve heard and know well.
Atma-Sphere MP-1 MK III
Coincident Statement Line Stage
VAC Signature MK II

Three based on trusted word of mouth.
Shindo Vosne-Romanee
Shindo Masseto 
Melody Pure Black 101d
Charles,

Charles, thank you, I understand now. Both Absolare and Ypsilon seem to be superb performers and with perfect speaker match maybe even more than that.

My friend has convinced me to try the Aavik U300 integrated amp in lieu of changing preamps. He said it’s very close to Absolare. Has anyone ever heard the Aavik?

Ricred1 8-20-2016 10:19 am edt
Charles,
In addition, I really respect the way you respond to threads.

An emphatic +1!

Richard (Ricred1), I have no knowledge of the sonics of the Aavik U300, but personally I would be concerned that its lack of balanced inputs and the low 10K input impedance of its line-level analog inputs would both significantly constrain future choices of source components. And for that matter I would wonder if the unbalanced outputs of your Aeris DAC, which you would have to use with the Aavik, would sound as good as its transformer coupled balanced outputs that I presume you are presently using.

In any event, good luck as you proceed.

Best regards,
-- Al

Ricred1,
At Axpona (Chicago) this spring I heard the Aavik driving Raidho speakers. I was with 2 friends and we felt that the sound of that room/system was decent but nothing particularly special (it wasn’t bad sounding to be clear). It wasn’t a prolonged listening session (like some other rooms we visited). So I am in no position to offer any meaningful impressions.

It could possibly be a terrific integrated class D amplifier under proper setup  conditions. It has a built-in DAC and Phono stage and 600 watts into 4 ohms. It could be very worthwhile to pursue and audition. Price wise it competes with integrated amps from Absolare, Vitus, ,Dartzeel and Ypsilon. Good luck to you.

Thanks Al as you know the feeling is mutual.
Charles,