Recently auditioned the original LS16 and found it to be noisy as hell. Tried sets of my own selected low-noise NOS Amperex, Mullard, and Siemens 6DJ8/6922/7308 tubes and it was still noisy. I was running the pre under best possible circumstances. Amps are ARC also and I run a true "balanced system from source to speakers. I suspect the LS16 in single ended is worse still in this regard. The LS2B I had previously owned was much quieter, a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 was silent as a tomb and the Aesthetix Callisto I ended up purchasing smokes the LS16 in all respects. The series 2 version is going to have to be a whole bunch better to be competitive...
