Joule LA100 MKIII or Granite Audio 770FP or Modwrt

I just bought a Joule Electra LA 100 Mk III used here on Audiogon, and I have to say, it's really great. Not as quiet as my Morrison ELAD, but the separation of instruments, dynamic grading and bass are all better. A natural organic sound, but not overly tubey.

I have owned both the Joule and the Modwright, altho several years apart. I would say the description of their sounds ( I am more a gestalt guy than a dissector of individual aspects of a piece) as Joule- natural, organic, good at conveying emotion, slightly tubey and Modwright- very neutral, not at all tubey is right on target. I think the Modwright is a better "value" based on current used prices for pretty new units. Both builders are top notch people who serve their customers well. You really can not go wrong w either- its a matter of taste. But I also agree w Spencer, you do not want to build a system by compensating for weaknesses; rather look for complementary strengths.

Numbdiver, you do know that Mesa always recommended a passive pre for the Baron? A few Goners have raved about that combo (not enough gain from my phone pre for me to use one, unfortunately.) I agree with Spencer, and would not seek tubey coloration in a preamp. I have used an AR LS-15 with my Baron for a decade, somewhat in the same vein as the Modright, with good results. It is interesting that you are not satisfied with using the Baron full range, its bass is admired by many. What tubes are you using in it? If your Baron has the tri-tube mod, EL34 tubes are the way to go, and would probably give you all the "tubiness" you want, without seeking coloration in your pre, phono pre or digital player. Also, the tubes you use may be contributing to the issues you seek to solve; the original 5881's are suboptimal for music (they were chosen only for their reliability), and there are significant variations in the sound of EL34's (I prefer the Siemens available from Mesa in matched sets.)

Thanks for the feedback. The amp is new to me, and I'm basing my preamp purchase on written info only. I sold my current preamp, and am starting form scratch with a tube pre. I'm sure I'll go through a few iterations before landing on great system synergy.

I've read that many Baron owner have found what they are looking for in a passive pre. I'm a bit afraid of losing dynamics. I've decided to start with an active preamp with relatively low gain (the ones I mentioned). A friend has a Promethius I can A/B with, once I get an active pre for comparison.

The 'tubey' sound I sited in the original question was just some thoughts, as many tube preamps reviews speak about the 'tubey' sound. Which I take as maybe a bit thick in the mids? I certainly don't want the highs to roll off early, if that is 'tubey' as well.

Lloydc,
Yes, my Baron has all the upgrades including the TriTube upgrade. You mention EL34. Do you mean the E34L that came stock with some of the TriTube amps, or an EL34? I've read the transformers couldn't keep up with the current draw from the E34L, and Mesa stopped recommending them. But I need to call them and verify. I have a set of 5881s with under 100 hours on them, and a set of E34L as well. I've got 3 bad E34L, so before I purchase more, I need to talk to Mesa and see what they say about running them vs. EL34 vs. other tubes.

The IRS Gammas do have an option to run full range. Even if the amp can keep up with the funky impedance drops (below 2 ohm for the lows), there are other reasons to biamp the IRS. They were specifically designed by Arnie Nudel to run through the factory stand-alone crossover/Servo. When running servo'd/biamp, the LF response drops considerably, and remains flat to around 15hz. Without the servo system, I believe they are good for around 30hz. I also like the idea of taking that work away from the main amplifier, as well as being able to tune the low freq response with the electronic xover in the servo.

I think I'm going to try the Modwright, as I've read elsewhere it is very nuetral sounding. Sounds like a great place to start, to learn the different voicing of the Baron. The Modwright is new enough that I don't have to worry about capacitor shift like some of the older preamps I'm looking at.

I've never heard a loss of dynamics running a passive preamp in my system. If your source has low output impedance, at least 2V output, and you're running short interconnects you should be fine since your amp is passive friendly. Furthermore, you can avoid most impedance matching issues that cause loss of dynamics by using a transformer/autoformer based passive (like the Promitheus) versus one that uses resistors. However, I own one of each type and again have had no issues with loss of dynamics.