Good Preamp for Emerald Physics 2.3

Rclassen,
Thanks for reporting on the Orpheus from personal use.
I figured it may be the way to go.Next major purchase.
Peterd

The best tube pre-amps from the $1,000 to $5,000 range would be as follows:

The Doge 8 ~ $1,150 (an incredible bargain for top drawer
performance. Comes with a phono stage.

The Audio Horizon 2.2 ~ $2,750 (excellent performance
many upgrades possible).

Coincident Technology Linestage ~ $5,000 ( a great bargain
considering its mind-blowing performance. Only downside is it only has 2 inputs.

Greg

Hooper, Rclaassen is right. I would go the Prism route. I briefly owned the 2.3s, and while they have a lot of promise, I think the cheap pro digital unit is a compromise. You can blunt the sonic contributions with tubes, but there are limitations. Clayton Shaw designed that speaker, and subsequently designed the Spatial rig. You can dialogue with him about the reasons why. There are multiple grades to choose from, not just the Orpheus which is expensive. It gives you so much more control, from the x-over, to room correction, to flexibility with source material (hi rez material...24/192, etc), and you can even add tube simulators which are little DSP-like programs that run in the digital domain. If you like what the 2.3s are doing, its a no-brainer.

Has anyone heard of these guys, www.asi-tek.com? I use a dbx as a crossover. The dbx does not suck out all of the life but does degrade the music to an extent.I need to upgrade. My budget is 4k or less.

You are right. The DBX is not a total assassin, but does influence things negatively. I have not heard of that modding outfit. If you have 4K to spend, I would look at the tudiokonnekt 48 and a mini. It would be under that price tag I believe and gives you much more flexibility, including upgradability for the future.