Most Quiet TUBE Preamp. Linestage. $ 12K or less

When I had my Mcintosh C2200 tube pre it was dead quiet. On the other hand, the Aesthetix Janus that replaced it was quite noisy in my system. Happy New Year!
Joe

I use an Atma-Sphere MP-1 mk III and with a good set of new tubes it is silent. I'm listening through Soundlab A-1 PX panels. Any input and any volume level, including the phono, is perfect. As the tubes age you will begin to hear tube hiss but generally the tubes are close to failing at this point.

I have a BAT VK-3iXSE that is dead quiet right now. I've got the volume turned all the way up and I can't hear a thing even with my ear right up to the speaker....dead silent!!

Oh, I forgot to turn the amp on, never mind. :)

Happy New Year AudiogoN'ers!

John

The very finest solid-state line stages, such as the Rowland Coherence II and the Blowtorch, layer space as well as any tube line stage, are just as musical and beat them on noise. With your budget, you do not need to do a tube preamp (or put another way, if you have a lot of money to throw at a preamp, my experience is that the very best solid-state units are the way to go, a fortiori with respect to phono stages because of the impact of noise where a weak signal is being amplified).

My ARC LS25mk2 is dead quiet.