Pre-amp suggestions for Thiel 2.4/Pass Labs XA30.5

I had a Thiel 2.4SE which I traded up for a 3.7

I've heard it with different combinations of Pre and Power before.

For my money, I found the Bel Canto Pre3 and REF500M to be a good pairing. I found the Bel Canto

If the budget could stretch further, I'd use a tube preamp which adds lushness and some 3dimensionality. I've heard it partner well with LAMM preamps and also with my Audio Research Ref5 and now 5SE. I am not a fan of overly warm and slow music reproduction and like dynamics so these two have been a great combination for me when I use SS power amps.

Unsound, I stand corrected.

Nothing personal, just for the record.:-)

I have had great luck pairing the Musical Fidelity kW preamp with Nelson Pass's First Watt amps. There is one for sale used now I believe. You will be hard pressed to find a better preamp for the money. Check out the Stereophile review (and the review's measurements), and other reviews on the unit. A tank, with a massive power supply. Truly the game changer in my system.

Thanks for all the comments folks... it's been useful, even if somewhat discursive. I've been leaning towards Aesthetix Calypso, mostly because it is fully balanced and has especially high gain, although I see that the Stereophile measurements have its output impedance ranges from 112 ohms at 1kHz to 3900 ohms at 20Hz (balanced). Perhaps that's on the edge of being a problem with the Pass' input impedance?

So far, the other contender I've been considering is the Audio Research LS-17. Most of the other suggestions got axed because they are unbalanced, higher than my price cap, or (in a couple cases) don't come with a remote.

Unfortunately I still need to sell my old system to free up funds for any purchase, so if anyone's interested in Thiel 1.6s, a Classe CAP-151, or an Exemplar Universal player... just let me know. They'll probably be posted next month, hopefully once folks have started to recover from the holidays.

Thanks again for all the input.