What tube preamp to get to smooth out the sound?????

Eantala, I have owned both the NHT 3.3 and the Wadia 850 and when properly set up neither is particularly harsh sounding. Before spending money on another preamp, you should carefully examine your current setup. Equipment stands, isolation devices, room treatments, cleaning contact points, etc. As a last resort you might try changing interconnects or cables. Inserting a preamp into your system regardless of its quality, is probably an over reaction.

Onhwy61 is correct, you may not need a preamp. Another suggestion would be to try a line conditioner or something as simple as a power cord. One example (and I'm sure there are many others) is the TG Audio HSR-I pc, which does a great job of "smoothing out the sound" and retails for only $240. Would at least be worth a try before spending 2K on a preamp.

Suzy, is this the Suzy that I met over at AA? If so, HEY! Welcome to our world across town! I found that it's hard to get people to think about power cords until they are really eyeball deep into this madness and have upgraded everything else. When we started the upgrade journey, we started with the amps, then the preamp, and mingled everything else around those (eventually swapping out the whole setup, including all IC and cables -speaker and power)- even the amp another round or two until we settled where we are at the moment (have been for 8 months now!)The biggest difference that we saw was with the preamp. That is just our experience. It really does vary based upon what you have. (and the Line 3, with the right tubes, is mellow in the mids, detailed in the highs, and "ballsy" in the bass)
AJ

Hi Angela! Yup, it's me. The same Suzy from AA. After 20 years and more component changes than I can remember, my experience has been that just about anything has the potential to make a big difference in your system. The biggest difference I heard recently was a change in speaker cable -- I replaced $2000 worth of cable with a pair that retailed for about one fourth as much and was shocked at how much better it sounded. It's a myth that you have to always spend more to get better sound. Sometimes you just need to find the right tweak or component -- system synergy is as important as anything else. Nothing makes me happier than being able to improve the sound of my system and actually come out money ahead!

suzy: so you gonna' tell us what the $2K cable was and its $.5K replacement. i'm all ears (kinda like chas., the prince of wales). -kelly