Neutral preamplifier recommendation $1K new


Must have: Active, remote, two XLR  inputs and XLR output.

Units I’m considering.

Denafrips Hestia

Ladder Bach

Schiit Kara

Topping Pre90

Vincent Audio SA32

Looking for a unit that measures well & has no/little sound of its own. Right now I’m leaning towards the Kara.

mybuddy

I have a phono preamp and a DAC and both are keepers.

I’m looking for a $1K line stage NEW to partner with my tube amplifiers.

@lpretiring  I appreciate the The Truth Pre Amp recommendation. Not one I’ve seen before so I will investigate.

I have a measly Schit Freya S that sounds pretty neutral to me and I believe has published measurements that bear that out.

The 3 way adjustable gain including passive mode is a nice feature to help match to various amps!

@mapman  As I noted above, I am leaning towards Schiit Kara; the current iteration of the Freya S. I like that it's built in the US with a 5 year warranty. This post is to see if there were similar preamps to consider.