Looking for a Preamp up to $3K

The greatest bargain in balanced tubed pre-amps is the Doge 8. At around $1,500 at Pacific Valve, its performance is amazingly good and it also has a good phono section. Another very good pre-amp in the $2,000 to $3,000 range is the battery powered Dodd. But it is not balanced.

Another excellent pre-amp is the Audio Horizons 2.2. It starts at around $2,750 and there are a plethora of upgrades available to the buyer as budget permits. The starting price is $2,750 and the unit is fully balanced, both in and out. While it doesn't have the great looks of the Doge 8, it is an excellent performer.

Greg

Last night I compared my Perfectwave DAC Bridge (lossless FLAC files)to my PS Audio GCPH phono preamp going straight to Pass amp. I've been not listening to files for a while and wanted to compare sound quality between the 2 formats.

The vinyl medium scored a TKO in the first round. I was actually surprised how bad my digital setup sounded vs the vinyl rig - VPI Scoutmaster Dynavector XXV mark 2 cart.

What's this have to do with needing a preamp?

In some ways I'm surprised at how, for lack of a better descriptor, precise even the vinyl rig sounds. The digital gives me the obvious leading edge transients and infinite highs but at the expense of sounding fake. I think a preamp can provide some realness to the digital rig while adding some 3 dimensionality to the vinyl rig.

The MBL's won't hide any shortcomings IMO.

If I had more budget I would go with the Pass XP20 for sale down the street. Coupled with the X350.5 it probably wouldn't get much better.

The Aestetix Calypso is a well regarded pre. Have to add that to my short list.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Allchemie, the Doge 8 has a set of balanced outputs, which are probably there just as a convenience, that is, it's not truly a balanced design. And no balanced inputs. Not saying it wouldn't be a good choice for Desalvo55's system, just that it probably doesn't really stand up as a balanced preamp.

Pass XP 10, just a bit above your price range as demo/used model.

Looking at the MBL 5011. I know I know, it's nearly twice my budget.

Having the MBL 121's I can certainly appreciate the stellar quality of MBL line. It really is amazing. I have one speaker that sustained damage to its finish - not done by me. I cannot find someone who can fix the deep mirror like finish. Is that a downside?

The preamp IMO is sort of the "general" of the system. I'd like to own the Patten if I could but maybe not so aggresive :)

Looks like one can be had for around 5K. Is it worth it?