Looking for warm tube preamp (should pair well with Pass power amp), budget $6000

Hello,

if you can get a Cary Audio SLP-05 from Cary, snag it. You will not be disappointed. Works with just about any amplifier, SS or Tube

@smodtactical I've talked with Aric and emailed back and forth.  His stuff looks great and apparently sounds great but I can't get over what you said. Resale would be lucky to be 50% on a barley used piece. That's thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks.  I'm not just talking about Aric's equipment alone, any of the more obscure builders will have the same issue until you get to Don Sachs or Supratek levels of hype. I wish they would offer a home trial, even if it had a small restocking fee (a couple hundred dollars at most). I suppose business is good enough without the trial so why would it be needed? 

A local Pass dealer I know sells the VTL preamps mostly, rather than Pass' own. I can't imagine one really needs to warm up a Pass amp as it's already designed towards the warmer side but maybe try a used VTL 5.5 preamp.  There's one on another classified website for $5k right now. No idea who the seller is or have any affiliation.

@bhvf you got it bud. Theres a 300b beautiful looking Aric power amp that someone has been trying to sell for a good 2-3 years I think. Originally for $8k and now hes down to $5500 ish and apparently msrp was $14k. It is really brutal and risky.

You are right with  sachs the risk is way lower since his preamps are only around $3k or less and he has a pretty well respected name so your are only going to take a 20-30% hit on it.

I don't think Pass is as warm as people make it out to be. Or it could be im craving lots of warmth cause I love the sound of my crack OTL head amp which is very warm. ATCs are very very neutral (I feel they might even be a touch bright) and so that doesn't help things. ARC known to be neutral as well. So you have neutral speakers, preamp, maybe slightly warm power amp.

VTL (from extensive research) is very neutral and going after that SS/tube hybrid sound. Its actually shockingly tough to find someone who makes a high quality euphonic rich sounding tube amp. It seems most people want neutrality.

Just to be accurate: The amp on USAudiomart was one the customer was determined to choose each and every part, and it was nowhere near $14K. It’s not a reviewed piece, and is not one I currently offer. I would not spend $200 on an IEC jack if it were my choice. Motherlode II sales (the two I’ve seen) were 30% less than MSRP. The two Transcend PP amps I’ve seen sell recently- 30% off MSRP. Let’s at least keep it factual. Peace out.

@smodtactical 

It seems most people want neutrality.

Maybe they want to want neutrality…they want to want “the mic feed in the studio”. The reality is far different. I want to lose track of time, I wan to listen for long periods without dissecting the sound, to stop fretting over the gear. Its almost like many in the hobby (I have been guilty as well) want to buy a salty dish, tame the saltiness with an extremely unsalty preamp or dac or cables, etc, etc. Its really hard to guess, especially without demos. Why is it so hard to get this right? They are random interactional outcomes.

Aric likely designs his preamps and amps to interact wonderfully together. Audio Note is a fine example. Shindo as well. How many posts do we see where some says “ Iheard some amazing speakers, I just melted…but I got them home and they dont sound right. “  Take a system approach, respect the designers intent and buy with this in mind. Far too many want to force a fit…the sooner we abandon the bolt on tweakiness, the sooner we find audio happiness.