Best Balanced Tube Preamplifier

I only know the SF Line3.

It is a fantastic machine....
I tried many different tubes,Sovtek, Electro Harminix, Jan Philips, RCA, Mullard but the real quality jump has been to replace the Digital Volume Control CS3310 with the new BB PGA2310......a new pre.
I have the 1996 version, I do not know about the last.

Again, judge with yr ears and musical preferences.
the pre is very important but it is a piece of the chain.....

BAT VK51SE doesn't sound "tubey", you can forget that one.

Cary 05 in the mix... stunning.

I dont know about the best but I used both ARC ref 3 and Cary SPL05. I took the ref 3 in as a trade from a customer. It's a great preamp, as a matter of preference, i prefer the SPL05 simply due to a slightly warmer sounding. Ref 3 is dead-on neutral.

The Cary SLP 2002 is a very nice fully balanced tube preamp that isn't as warm as the SLP98 or as neutral as the 6H30 tube preamps such as the calypso, BAT, etc. It is a steal that the used market prices they seem to go for.

I found the SLP 2002 sound to be great. I'd call it slightly coloured. Being 6922 based, there is a lot of tube rolling that can be done to tweak the sound, and it can also take 6CG7's and 6H30's too. A very flexible unit.

Good luck.