Solid State Preamp to replace tube unit
I currently own a CJ tube preamp. Ive always owned tube preamps and I would like to get my first solid state preamp.I am fed up with buying expensive hard to find tubes that last 3 months or new production tubes with that not so great sound. I pine for consistency. I probably wont sell my CJ I'll just keep it. My power amps are NAD M23 for the summer and CJ Premiere 12's for the winter.
Since I dont dabble in the solid state world I am not sure what to get. I figure since this is my first SS unit 4-5k preowned??. Some brands I have considered CODA< Pass, AYRE, Classe, Bel Canto, Krell etc. Note: I have tried the Parasound and Benchmark but they didnt do it for me. I dont like anayltical sterile sound. If it is a touch warm/colored that is probably good as I am coming from a very warm CJ tube unit.
Must haves are a remote with balance control. Multiple outputs (XLR and RCA). I have an outboard phono pre. Thank you for reading and for your suggestions.
I struggled with this for about 3 years. I needed a preamp with balanced out to go between my Manley Snapper monoblocks and my Holo May KTE DAC. Tried quite a few.
In the end I wound up with a Levinson 523. It meets your criteria including balance control on the remote, and it is a seriously fantastic piece of gear (better be for the price). I got mine used at about 1/2 retail. |
@vthokie83 Im not blowing the per se., they do get noisy. I only had one that was a bad failure. |
I'm either VERY LUCKY or an anomaly. I have 3 tube amps and 2 tube preamps (McIntosh MC-225 paired with an Audio Research SP17, a Dennis Had Inspire "Fire Bottle" 45 paired with a Dennis Had LP3.1, and a Reisong A10 EL34 Integrated). The stock Reisong tubes were replaced in 2018 with NOS tubes, the Dennis Had gear has Emission Labs 45 tubes I installed in 2018, the ARC tubes are more than 10 years old (I bought it in 2020 from the original owner and he had receipts where he replaced the tubes in 2012) and the McIntosh has Westinghouse 7591 "Made For McIntosh" tubes that appear to be original based on my research (I bought it from the original owner in 2021 who bought it in 1963, my year of birth -- he said he had never replaced the tubes and the technician I had go over it said all tubes looked original, it had been in storage for 20 years).
Each system gets played several times a week, for an hour or two each session. For those of you with far more knowledge than I have...what am I doing right?? I'm not complaining, far from it. But how can the OP go through tubes as he said and I have Dorian Gray tubes?? |
