Balanced/Differential tube preamplifier recommendation?

I would recommend looking for a used Audio Research, VAC, or Conrad Johnson. I would go back as far as necessary to meet your budget (make sure it is a tube preamp). These are world class preamps and will provide amazingly musical presentations. If you could stretch to $3K this would likely move you up a level.

Real audiophile preamps go beyond simple detail + bass into real musical reproduction. The preamp is the first component to bring up into the audiophile category if you can. It is the wingnut that holds it all together.

I bought my first audiophile preamp about 40 years ago… it was life changing.

@thought9

Sorry I can’t tell you whether designs are fully differential or not, I make decisions on sound quality.

If you have five different designers, they can make a particular design sound completely different depending on the sound they want, the components they use, and all the ancillary components.

I know it is tempting to favor a particular design… but a great audio designer crafts the sound using everything from the case construction, the sound quality of each resistor, capacitor, tube, etc. choice. These guys are artists with science and engineering as their pallets.

These great companies have invested decades in research and development to achieve their sonic objectives, using what every technology that can get them there.

@soix

+1

OP, I get that… hard to know what you don’t know.

Fyi. I have all ARC gear… it is fully balanced. I had both a pair of Transparent RCA and Balanced interconnects. ARC recommends using balanced. So, I tried both. It is really easy to set up both and toggle back and forth. I could not detect a difference. Note, this is a very high quality component, so ARC worked at doing a really good job of the conversion from internal balanced to unbalanced output. A lower level component or company might not and there could be a big difference.

XLR interconnects are much more expensive… I upgraded all of my interconnects to balanced… because, just like you, it would have gnawed at me that I was not using in the optimal mode. A typical audiophile reaction… we can’t let stuff go, and in the long run end up with spectacular sounding systems. It’s all this little stuff that adds up to,great sound.