2. amps-preamps
  3. 179106-5619

Help in deciding which tube preamp to replace my old SFL-2

I'm a long time audiophile. I am finally admitting that it is time to upgrade my tube preamp. For many years it has been my beloved Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 which was upgraded at Parts Connexxion about eight years ago and five years ago I changed out the 6922's to Siemens Rohre CCA tubes. Still sounds wonderful, but it's time. I am exclusively a vinyl listener and my system is: Nottingham table with Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge. Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono preamp fed to the SFL-2 via  balanced interconnects. Primaluna EVO 400's as monoblocks with new KT88's and vintage European small tubes. I also still have my Levinson 27.5 and 23 SS amps. Speakers are Avalon Acoustics Opus. All cables are Transparent Audio Ultras. Musical preference is mostly classic rock; Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Cars, Eric Clapton, etc... but have over 3,000 LP's and do listen to Sinatra quite often. Love string guitars. I plan to buy used, and my budget is around $10K. I've narrowed it down to the following: VTL 7.5 (III), CJ GAT, AR Ref 5SE of Ref 6, Concert Fidelity CF-080 LSX V3, or an Aesthetix Callstio Eclipse.

I respect all comments, criticisms, and suggestions. Thank you.

awise1961
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,809 posts
 

I love the Zesto, it has such a natural tone , you could say it is perfectly voiced for a preamp. Explosive dynamics coming from a jet black background. Great detail and huge Soundstage. Whats not to like? It is a great pre.

It has been very reliable, it’s on for hours every day. No issues. It did have a bad tube socket. With very high efficiency speakers there was an occasional faint noise in the right channel. I traced it the tube socket. They don’t make the tube sockets so unfortunately it was a bad part, no fault of Zesto. I sent it in, for a VERY reasonable fee George replaced all sockets with the new style gold/ceramic ones. I figured it’s in California it would be stupid to not do the ESP Power supply thats in the new units.

Before taking delivery of my Toolshed 300b Amp, I was talking to Matt about his latest preamp . It’s a DHT and promises to be the perfect match to what is a phenomenal amp. I’ll be selling the Zesto soon, but I can say its the best sounding pre I have ever owned or had first hand experience with to date. It’s good stuff.

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
974 posts
 

https://www.modwright.com/products/ls-100-tube-preamp.php

soix
9,456 posts
 

What improvements are you looking for, and what sound characteristics are most important to you?

awise1961 OP
47 posts
 

I'm desiring a more dynamic and expansive soundstage. With that, I have decided on an Aesthetix Callisto Eclipse. Negotiations are done, I'm just waiting on the final shipping cost so that I can send the funds. I already have an Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono pre. The Callisto allows me to stay with balanced interconnects and uses tubes which I have in my collection of vintage NOS pieces. Luckily I have the space available for this new beast. It has three chassis, two of which weighing in at 50 pounds each. 

soix
9,456 posts
 

Congrats!  I’m sure you’ll absolutely love it. 

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