Tube sound with no tubes

11k single ended, 22k balanced (what I used)
You are right though, it does demand a low enough output impedance across the audio band for no roll-offs.

I would suggest taking a look at the Artemis LA-1. If changing tubes is that much of an issue you won't need to often with this pre. It uses 2 5687 dual triode tubes one for each channel and only heats 1 of the 2 triodes. Once the tube goes you swap channels and your good to go. The manufacturer calls it Cool-Swap Technology. You will get an easy 20,000 hrs on a set of tubes.

I know i wont get the exact sound out of ss preamp.Maybe i should have said a pre-amp with no edgy, analitical sound to it.I know there some great SS gear to be had and using a tube preamp for years I have gotten use to the sound.Some of the SS preamps I have heared sounded very sterile to me.My current preamp is a Sonic Frontiers Line-3/se.

another BIG tom evans fan. i went from a tube phono pre and pre to the tom evans groove+srx and vibe/pulse2. this solid state front runs through his amazing linear b monoblock tube amps. those 16 el84's fulfill all of my tube desire.

how much do you want to spend montana audio has a 12,000 dollar preamp that sounds sweet like tubes but has the slam of solid state. go to the web site and look