Best Balanced and singal ended pre-amp?


Looking for suggestios on my next pre-amp. Needs to be balanced and unbalanced as well as tubed? BAT VK50se would be a consideration if it had rca outputs..as well as the Hovland looks promising but it's only single-ended. I guess that probably leaves an AR unit to check out, although I'm not too fond of AR's styling. The pre-amp must be easily compatible with a variety of amps, both ss and tubed.
Thanks in advance for your opinions. Phono isn't a must but would be a plus. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
jman

Showing 1 response by metaphysics

I have a BAT VK-50SE and BAT sells output high-quality XLR-RCA and RCA-XLR adapters. The adapters don't result in any sonic losses other than not getting the benefits of BATs fine blaanced circuitry. I don't consider this to be klugey. The 50SE is a fine preamp and you can't go wrong. Also, I may be selling my BAT VKP5 phono pre soon. This may be a good option.