Seriously considering tube preamp…opinions?


Tube virgin, here. I am building a system and I'm trying to contain the preamp/amp cost to $3k or so. (I could go up a little.) 

I'm inclined not to dive into tubes all the way through, but get a solid state on the output end. (Open to suggestions; inclined toward PS Audio, Parasound.) I'm reading around about tube preamps and have talked with my local dealer, who sells Black Ice/Jolida and Prima Luna (PL). He used to carry Rogue but said they kept coming back for repairs. That's why he carries PL.

I'm asking these questions after having established (via reviews, comments) that Schiit gear is quite the value. Lately, I've been reading about Decware and other small tube makers. I'm very curious about buying direct, if possible, and a company that stands behind their products is crucial.

So, your opinions about tube integrated or *especially* tube preamps —

1. Who do you like? Consider I want to do pre/amp for a total of $3k if possible.

2. Do you think PL is worth all that money just for a preamp? I get the feeling they're high quality but a bit over-hyped. (No disrespect to the highly passionate Kevin Deal, but he's all over my search results.) And what would you think about $2k/$1k preamp-to-amp spending ratio?

3. Any sense of what happened to Jolida since the name change to "Black Ice"? I see there's a sordid story there but did the re-branding clear up the mess? Any experiences with the Black Ice company?

4. I know there are many Schiit fans out there; so my question would be -- did anyone consider Schiit for tube preamp and go another way? Or move beyond Schiit for any particular reason? It's hard not to just capitulate and do a Freya+ or Saga+ but why wouldn't one just go with Schiit?




128x128hilde45
Given your budget why not go the integrated route.  Take look at the Raven Audio website and then call Dave Thomson, the owner.  The Raven sound is awesome.  
@hilde45 I was in the same boat as you last year. After shopping around and returning equipment I didn't like, I settled on the Modwright SWL 9.0 SE tube preamp and a Bel Canto REF 500S class D amp. I use WyWires for ICs. The synergy is great and Modwright is high quality and they have a great customer service reputation. You should def check them out. Good luck!
I had a Schiit Saga S and decided to go with a tube preamp. I was leaning toward the Freya +, in part because it had a SS option in case I decided I didn't like the tube sound. I wound up coming across a Jolida JD5T pre on sale (without being able to do a side by side comparison, my research on it suggested that it was definitely better than the Saga + but probably not as good as the Freya +). After having it for about a month, I don't regret the decision. It was significantly better than the Saga S. I'm not sure that it helps you to compare these two preamps, but the Saga S had a clean, neutral (maybe even cold) sound, while the JD5T's sound is quite warm. The Black Ice preamp looks nice -- it looks to be an updated Jolida Fusion preamp with the Foz-SSX sound stage expander built-in (I suspect the old Fusion was better than the Freya +, based solely on specs; of course, with the Freya you have the option of SS and tubes), so I suspect that it's better than the Freya + (though at about twice the cost).
Easy. Schiit Freya+ Tube pre. A pair of schiit aegir monoblock amps. Four xlr cables. Have a fully balanced differential class A, stereophile class a rated system for $2500. Add a node 2i and your in business.