Tube preamp suggestions.

Thanks Jtg, but Prat was not my priority. Too many tubes on the supratek to remember but after seeing another thread on AA I decided not to pursue the issue. Have been looking at some Joule Electras here on agon, might try an la100 just for kicks. An la200 was just listed but looks like it has been removed. Whats going on with the Act2? Seen a few selling in the low 6000's, doesnt seem to make sense that all these CT5 buyers would'nt pony up another 1500 and buy a used Act. Thanks for the suggestions.

I'd recommend a Conrad Johnson or the Cary SLP 2002. I A/B'd these in the same system at the same time. The Cary is 6922 based while the Conrad (PV10B) was 6189 (12AU7) based. Both displayed great musicality and a very nice midrange without being too neutral. The Cary had a significantly bigger and more enveloping soundstage, and extended into the high frequencies much better. So, in effect, the Cary sounded more neutral. The Conrad sounded like it was rolling off the high frequencies. Both had similar bass response (sounded nice in the system). The Cary sounded a little more forward in the presentation. The Cary can be tube rolled with lots more options than the Conrad Johnson to get the sound you want, so I won't explain the differences in sonic signature much more.

The two of us who auditioned it preferred the Cary.

They were in a quality system with good components.

Velo62, I have owned both the AR LS-25mkII and the CAT Ultimate II at the same time and was able to give a just audition with both before choosing which preamp I would keep.To my ears and in my system the AR was extremely detailed throughout the scale, but was also extremely sterile sounding almost as if a veil was covering the music from coming into bloom. The CAT on the other hand is extremely revealing (A/B compared with stock tubes)and over all sonically preferred. Top extension was very good, bottom was solid and mids were detailed, but not as much as I would like. This now resides with my system, and it wasn't until I rolled tubes that I found the CAT performing much better. Get rid of the Sovtek tubes without question IMO. Hope this helps.

Linestages seem particularly sensitive to associated electronics so it is a bit tricky trying to guess how they will sound in your system. I have found that a lot of models sound completely different depending on the system. So, given this caveat, I can say that, in the systems I auditioned them in, the Cary SLP-98 sounded way to warm and sluggish, and, while it did throw a quite large soundstage, that big soundstage seemed to be a product of phasiness rather than being natural. The AR was the complete opposite -- it was lean, lacking in harmonic richness,weight and meatiness, which made it sound cold and unnatural.

The Emotive Audio Sira can be very good, harmonically rich and vibrant, but, in the wrong system, it can sound a bit loose and sluggish in the bass, so it (like anything else) must be auditioned. I have the Epifania with the optional teflon caps. This is an incredibly good linestage (leaner and more "accurate" than the Sira, with astonishingly good recovery of cues on the recording environment), but it is quite pricey.

Other, more reasonably priced linestages that I have heard and liked include the Joule 150, and the lower-priced Audionote (uk) models.