Best sounding preamp under 2K?

Rolf: I was going to nominate the Rogue 99, but I don't believe it offers balanced, although I'm not sure. I know my 66 does not. Otherwise, it is a phenomenal value with phono, remote and headphone. Mike

rolf, my recommendation uses 4 6922's, but i still recommend it - i *love* mine! :>) the melos music director or ma333 (the ma333, the earlier version, doesn't have the same caps, but it *does* have the photentiometer volume control, which i think is better, but can be easily misaligned during shipping - it's *very* sensitive...) this pre has remote volume/balance controls, and was offered w/balanced ins/outs, but it was an option, so not all units may have it.

prior to getting the melos, i tried the "magnum"-updated rogue 99 (remote volume, not balanced, no tape monitor function), & the cary slp98 (remote awailable, don't think balanced is an option). the cary was better than the rogue, but the melos is in another league entirely.

A great sounding pre for about $1000 is the Adcom GTP-750.

I've owned the 5i, 30SE, 30, 40, and 50SE. The Pass Aleph P is every bit as good as the 5i, but it is solid state. I haven't seen a used Line 3 in the $2k price range yet, so I don't see how it meets your criteria. Good luck!

Rolf, you dunderhead. You can't get anything good for less than about seven thousand dollars. Why don't you forget it and get yourself a walkman. You can get one of those for less than 2k.