Advice on pre-amps needed

Nagra gear is remarkably good, but given the choice I would buy the Aesthetix Janus. I have been looking at this model myself, but will probably opt forthe stand alone Rhea. Good luck in the process.

I think that depends upon whether you want tubes or not.

Tubes have that special magic, but it comes at a cost.
The cost being tube noise (tube rushing).
If you can live with it, I agree with Nrchy, that the Aeshetix is probably the way to go. It has a remote control, which might be important to you, as it is to me.
(It also has some cool phono input controls that most other preamps lack.)

If on the other hand, you relish deep, dark, backgrounds, than the Ayre K-1X is a good choice. It is very musical without being analytical, as some solid state preamps can be. (This was my choice, just so you know.) It is very good both as a preamp and the phono boards are very good as well. (It is much better than my old ARC LS-2 preamp and PH-3 phono preamp combination. I grew to hate the tube rushing noise.) I love the detail and the utterly deep, dark, black backgrounds that the phono boards provide. It also has a remote. (Note, the remote only handles volume control functions, including mute, although, it would also turn your amp on and off as well.)

My two cents worth anyway.
Good luck in your search!

thanks so far for yur input. I´m not sure if I´m really a tube lover. Currently I run my Audio Aero Capitole MK II directly into my Ayre V-5X evolution power amp - and to be honest - my Rowland Concentra II + Accuphase DP-67 combo was much better. Don´t know if the AA and the Ayre are getting better by the time (they are just two days old) but right out of the box I don´t like what I hear..

Frankpiet,

As both your pieces of equipment are brand new, I highly suggest that you pick a full range, dynamic, piece of music and run it 24/7 for the next week or so, in order to break in both pieces of equipment properly. (It will probably take a minimum of a hundred hours or so to get the break in process well under way. It could take a few hundred to actually fully break in your equipment.)

Personally, I am like you. I like having a preamp in my system, as I find it helps flesh out the sound. However, some people prefer to keep as much equipment out of the signal path as possible. (Six of one, half a dozen of the other!)

(Just be glad you don't have a phono cartridge to break in too! (Or at least not yet anyway!) My Koetsu cart's took a couple of hundred hours to fully break in. Luckily, they sould good right from the start, and end up sounding great!)

Good Luck!

Kurt, fortunately my Lyra cartridge is already fully broken in. But as I currently have no preamp, my turntable (a beautiful Transrotor) just shines in beautiful chrome from my rack. As you use Koetsu I assume that you use an Audiocraft AC 4400 tonearm?

Best regards, Frank

Have you looked at the Tron Syren (www.tron-electric.com)? This is a cost no object tube preamp with user adjustable phono stage. It is essentially a bespoke build to order preamp from one of hi-fi's unsung tube gurus, Graham Tricker in the UK. It has had rave reviews in 6 moons. I have the Tron's predecessor, the Tron Meteor, which is sounds stunning. This is used predominantly as a phono preamp with my platine Verdier/Schroeder Model 2/Allaerts MC1B. The US distributor is Highwater Sound in NJ.

If you email Graham (sales@gtaudio.com), he can build you one to your spec ie for your cartridge, with optional extras if you wish.

Topox.. no, I´haven´t so far as this will be beyond my financial boundaries (I suppose).

Has anybody experienced the new Jeff Rowland Concerto pre with phono option?

@Kurt_tank
If you are experiencing tube rush, use a tube with a lower output instead. A tube that is matched for your preamp or amp should not have that symptom. 
 Some tubes are quieter than others with a given output. 
Bent

I'm currently using a Schiit Freya that is possibly too inexpensive for this thread, and a Dennis Had "Firebottle" HO SEP amp (also relatively inexpensive)...I HATE noise and hum from hifi gear, and use noise defeating outboard power supplies for my DAC and phono preamp, a PS Audio Humbuster III, well shielded cables...etc. There is zero "tube rush" or noise in this rig, and you can stick your ear on the treble horn of the Klipsch Heresy IIIs for verification of that as long as you wipe the earprint off afterwards. There was zero noise from my previous push/pull tube power amp also...so clearly I don't get the alleged sonic "cost" of tubes, although there is a cost to collecting them...utterly worth it as they can make things sound better than otherwise.

ayre gear need be broken in and warm !!!! i suggest leaving preamp on 24/7 and of course breaking it in....Charlie was pretty adampt about the need for a preamp for his gear to sound best..and IMo agree..there will of course be dissenters, who are sometimes right..it seems a case by case thing...
i have some aesthetix gear, Jim White certainly knows his stuff, has good ears ... have fun

Just for the last few posts, hope you all realize this was a thread from 2005.

frankpiet

Your Aero has 5v!! output at 100ohms output impenance with it’s own analogue volume control with the remote, this is by far enough to drive any power amp direct (most only need around 1.5v for full output!!), and you’ll have far better transparency and dynamics and less colouration than any preamp could hope to have.

Go direct and save fortune and get a better sound by not having an expensive preamp in the signal path.

If you need to have multiple input switching the get one of these
http://www.goldpt.com/sw4.html

And get a separate phono stage with it’s own level control, like these or better, depending on your love of vinyl. And put it through the Goldpoint switchbox as well.
https://www.aussiehifi.com.au/products/cambridge-audio-duo-mc-mm-phono-preamplifier?variant=69676821...

https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/phono-preamps/accession-mm-phono-preamp.html

https://www.adl-av.com/products/usbdac/gt40a/

Cheers George

 I would not suggest limiting yourself only to preamps with the onboard phono stage.  Your options open up a lot more if you go with separates. 

I thought the Audio Aero had a volume control. No? 

soundsrealaudio561 posts09-17-2018 7:56amI thought the Audio Aero had a volume control. No?

It does and a very good one, read my post above yours.

Cheers George

Since your amplifier has a balanced input, to best take advantage of it I recommend a preamp with a balanced output, preferably one that supports the balanced standard as does your amplifier.
If the preamp supports the standard, you will find that auditioning interconnect cables becomes unimportant as they will all work quite well.

The phono cartridge is a balanced source, so you can run a balanced connection between the arm and preamp; that is an important place to run a balanced connection, as the balanced cable will be more neutral than a single-ended cable.

You can find tube preamps that do all of this, but I’ve found that if the preamp does not support the standard (also known as AES48) then you will not get all the benefits balanced line has to offer, in particular immunity of the sound to your choice of interconnect cable.

Here is the balanced standard in a nutshell:
1) The balanced connector is usually the XLR, which has 3 pins for its connections. pin 1 is ground, pin 2 is non-inverting and pin 3 is inverting2) ground is ignored; used for shielding only3) the output impedance of whatever is driving the connection is low so it can drive a load of 2000 ohms or lower.
4) the signal travels in a twisted pair within a shield.
5) Both sides of the signal connection have an equal impedance to ground and may be floating
6) no center taps are employed for transformer connections.

Here are a few balanced line myths
1) it is only useful for longer connections not seen in the home. 2) single-ended sounds better
3) you need a center tap for a cartridge or tape head for it to operate balanced
4) you have to rewire the tone arm to run balanced
5) balanced equipment has twice as many parts
What this means is that most tube preamps have an output transformer to support the standard. As far as I’ve been able to tell, we make the only tube preamps that fly in the face of this but we have a patent on that process.

The tricky bits are parts 2 and 5 in the part about the standard above. Most balanced preamps I’ve seen hedge on these parts, and thus lose the cable immunity that makes balanced operation so awesome. For that reason, you will hear many comments that contradict what I’ve written here; IOW people don’t always have the same experience, simply because the equipment they used didn’t support the standard.

I would recommend to look at a SST Ambrosia.  The only pre on your list that I've hear is the Ayre K-1x..... so,  I can't comment too deeply on how it would compare with all that you have listed,  but I can tell you that for me,  the SST has a slight tube flavor and it is solid state, yet is allows a very clear picture of what each amplifier and cables sound like more than any other pre that I have used.... It has an excellent phono and headphone section both,  single ended and balanced and remote. Plus.... tone controls. 

May not suit you, but looking is free. 

frankpiet

Or Frank, if you want to go full balance all the way with what I suggested above, your Audio Aero has balanced outputs as well controlled by it's volume control, and the Goldpoint comes in balanced also. Myself I'd stick with the rca version.   
http://www.goldpt.com/sw2x.html

Cheers George

2005 was mostly sober....ha