I almost bought a Backert Rhumba, heard great things about it. The most impressive thing about the Zesto is despite being tube it's super quiet. 99dB speakers, no signal, turn the volume to 3 o'clock and nothing... silence. Not even the normal slightest high frequency hiss that you hear in most systems. Complete silence . From that silence comes explosive dynamics , the Zesto is incredible . My former cj preamp was great, it served me well but this is in another league altogether.
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In that range you could check out Hattor, “The BIG” which sounds really good and can do just about anything a preamp should do functionally.
- choice of passive or active operation, switchable by remote on the fly
- active stage offers choice of +3, 6, or 9 dB gain, also switchable by remote
- active stage via choice of op amps, including the well regarded NewClassD dual ultimate edition
- 64-step discrete resistor dual mono volume controls
- full-service remote
- choice of resistors between Vishay SMD, Takman REX carbon or REY metal film, or Amtrans AMRG carbon film
- choice of case color
- Big, easy to read, dimmable display
- Balanced and single-ended ins and outs
- outboard linear power supply
- Home Theatre input available
List price is exactly $2,500 with the top options - XLR, AMRG resistors, and the NewClassD active stage. See it here.
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There were some really nice preamps at $2999 recently, a used Zesto Leto 1.5...., a used Audio Valve Eclipse, Backert Rythm 1.1. For a little more than$ 2500 used you can step into some serious tube preamps if you are patient.
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Patience will definitely pay off. When I was searching for my endgame preamp,it seemed the $2500-$3500 price point was loaded with great gear.
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