Balanced Pre for Bi Amping Recommendations Please

BAT pres are balanced and the 3 and the 5 would fall inyour budget. They have at l east one set of balanced outputs and multiple balanced inputs. Check their web site for details. Great sounding products from a company that provides excellent post-sales support, even of used products.

One thing to keep in mind: just because a unit has XLR outputs does not mean that the product itself is truly balanced.

If you need two sets of truly balanced outputs, the BAT 3 or VK3 series will not work as they only have one set of balanced outputs. The VK5 series has two sets and does fit into your price range. "Transparency" and "neutrality" are of course subjective in comparison to another product. The BAT line stages have incredible dynamics and bass but tend to be a wee bit soft on the top.

Another product in your price range is the ARC LS5. Like the VK5 series, the LS5 is a truly balanced product and it also has two sets of balanced outputs. The LS5 does not have the low-end extension but it does have a little more presence on the top.

Both the models above have NO single-ended inputs or outputs. And they are from the 1994-1997 time frame.
Do a search here for these two models to get an idea on the pros/cons of each.

John

Perhaps you already know, but if you are thinking that (for example) bi-amping with 2 amps at 200 wpc is like having 400 wpc, it's not. It doesn't work that way...

Audio Research LS-10 is solid state and it has two sets of balanced outputs. It fits your description for the desired sound and it sells for around $1,800-$2,000 used. They pop up here on the 'Gon periodically. It has been called the best SS offering from AR ever.

I sold mine 5 months ago. I just bought another one last week and I'm awaiting delivery.

Audio Experience makes a balanced pre-amp. It's their top of the line. It has a source selector switch on the front plate and 2 volume knobs, one for each channel, and two sets of outputs. I like mine and price is under a thousand. This pre is FULLY BALANCED, and has single ended inputs as well. Ys Audio, the manufacturer in Hong Kong is a very reputable company, standing behind their merchandise. Their products offer great value for the money, IMHO. See if any other A'goner's have any familiarity with this unit.

Used, the Sonic Frontiers are balanced and SFL2's have dual outputs in XLR. I think the Line2 and Line3 do too. Factor in replacing tubes with NOS.

One of the most versatile preamps is the PS Audio PCA2, which goes for around $700 on the 'gon listings.

The Threshold T2 also had dual XLR's

In the higher end, I can only think of the Pass X0.2 and Ayre K1 that have dual XLR but they're more than your budget.

Why do you want to go directly, via a pair of XLR outputs, from your pre-amp to your pair of amps? To bi-amp properly, i.e. actively, won't you need just one pair of XLR outputs from your pre-amp to go into a single pair of XLR inputs on an active X/O, which then connects via its two pairs of XLR outputs to your two amps?

Forget the two outputs as a needed item, one pair and a quality Y interconnect is just as good as two seperate outputs. If the signal is split one inch inside the preamp or one inch outside the preamp is of no sonic difference.

Hifijunkieoz,
I have been very happy with my Space-Tech Labs pre amp (tubes). It is custom built to your own needs and specifications, based on the speakers and power amps you have. I had extra RCA outputs added to my pre amp in order to bi-amp my Zingali speakers. If you want two balanced outputs, Albert can do that. www.space-tech-lab.com
Lots of choices in your price range.
Ron

Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS fits your request!

Quincy: No CJ gear has balanced or XLR inputs or outputs.

Zimmerma: Perhaps biamping will not be done in the context of having an active crossover between the preamp and amps but rather simply to drive the individual halves of the speaker drivers by removing the shorting bars between two sets of speaker posts. In this case, the built-in crossover in the speakers will be used.

Mahandave raises a good point but with such an adaptor, there are two more connectors, the associated soldering and the potentially inferior cabling in the adaptor for each path. Whether or not this is audible is another story. I doubt I would hear much of a difference, if any at all, but others claim they can.