Best balanced linestage/preamp for $4000 or less ???

someone mentioned CJ, I thought they were single ended ?

as for the OP's general statement about older ARC being problematic....BS, my old SP-9MkII continues to perform admirably in my sons kit

Hi oem-wheels,
There are several good recommendations here. I will give one more Rouge Audio Hera 2 - Hands down the best preamplifier I have heard for the money. Bests other brands, some listed in this post, that cost 3-4 times more. Frequency response is 1hz - 300khz. The sound stage is truly holographic. Rogue Audio discontinued the line due to production costs associated with the level of detail involved with the design, but still services them should anything happen. I am not a rep, nor affiliated with the company. I am an Audiophile that appreciates great craftsmanship especially at reasonable prices.

Good Luck

There is one currently listed on Agon.
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8ii1a-rogue-audio-hera-two-piece-preamplifier-tube

Atmasphere - do manuals generally indicate if the equipment meets the AES 48 standard?

oem-wheels - in similar discussions two other pre-amps are mentioned - don Sachs ($2500 new) and cary sl-05 (~$3100 used).  No idea how these stack up against those mentioned above, but I am doing a similar search and keep coming back to these, but now have more to look into!

@thosb   I've looked at those and they do look good but pretty sure they won't be able to drive a sub also.. I actually called Sachs.. The wait time to get one of his is 16 weeks, approx..  could be more, could be less

If you can find a Vincent SA-T8, swap out the crappy supplied Tubes and Caps, and you'll have a superb Balanced Pre. that will send plenty of high cost Pre's packing.

Atmasphere - do manuals generally indicate if the equipment meets the AES 48 standard?

@oem-wheels 
Probably not. I would contact the manufacturer. It they can't simply say 'yes', the correct answer is likely 'no'.

ok guys... thanks for taking the time in helping me out.. from all mentioned there's 3 that seems like fits my taste.. 1 of them hasn't been mentioned here, found by mistake.. Atmosphere, Rogue (thanks ggc), and Wyred 4 Sound's STP-SE level 2 (one that wasn't mentioned).. Called Atmosphere for more info and found that it would cost me about $1500 more than my current budget.. Rogue's latest is about the same price for their top of line.. Talked to them too and they said the latest preamp would work better for me than the one being sold used on Agon..  The STP-SE found a very nice review on 10 Audio.. He liked it so much that he said he bought it.. I know its not tubed but still even with all the upgrades its still under my budget.. And it can do what I need it to do very well.. Right now I have my modded Oppo205 hooked directly to my amp and it sounds very nice in 2 channel.. But I still like to have a preamp to switch sources, add a sub, volume control, balance.. 


I said screw it couple days ago and almost bought an Audio Research 27.. the guy assured me it can drive my amp and sub.. made an offer $100 less than he was willing accept so it stalled.. After more research I found out that Audio Research doesn't recommend anything lower than 25k ohms to pair with this pre..           close one

as for my budget, I'd rather wait a little bit longer and get the preamp I want

The EAR-Yoshini 868L has one XLR input and dual-XLR outputs (as well as dual-RCA outs), and can occasionally be found used for around $3000. It’s a nice pre, and weights 22 lbs.! It’s deceiving---a look inside reveals not a lot of parts, but when you go to pick it up, it feels like a power amp.

Oem-wheels. 
 Yours is a rational approach.  I suggested the Atma-sphere MP-3  earlier in this thread as I believe that it's a top quality preamplifier that would serve you well.   Certainly in your stated budget range there are numerous very good options available.  Patience is a good asset and will allow you to make a wise long term decision. . 
Charles 

 Not sure what the problem is with the Audio Research LS-27.  Your Classe CA2200 appears to have an input Z of > 100k whereas the LS-27 doesn’t recommend anything below 25k so you should be fine. 

@ricwa.. I want to add a sub to the mix and they tend to be lower than 25k. Plus I'll be asking the preamp to drive my amp and sub at the same time which makes it even a tougher assignment. 

My dream for several years was to get a Parasound JC 2, but @ 4K it is out of my foreseeable budget. I was reading a passive preamp thread, which moved me to use the XLR outs from my Oppo 105 direct to my amps. fortunately, no impedance issues and wow, the noise floor dropped off a cliff. The only negative is any volume lower han full on seems to cause bit loss, BUT, now I am exploring passive pres. I went through a bunch of them over a decade ago, but like everything else, the tech has improved. 

If I had $2700 I would buy the Troubador Passive preamp, It appears to be SOTA , but not in my current budget, so I found a Hattor passive on AudioGon and swooped it up.

My hope is by plugging the 105 into it, and opening th 105 volume control,l wide open and use the passive pre VC  to better control volume. Hope to have it by Saturday, then a few days to acquaint myself with its functions and listen to some music

Oem_wheels: Sounds like u made up your mind. Wanted to edit my previous post. The Calypso does not have the demagnetizer. That's my Rhea that does. Very kind of everyone to not point out my error. The Calypso does have tape monitor rca outputs for your sub. I use a remote controlled preamp for sub volume control. I've seen the Calypso for sale on this site for around $2200. U can do some tune rolling to adjust your sound. 

what a difference 2 weeks makes. 

I am in the process of reacquainting myself with newest passives

Wish i could afford the best Tortuga ($2700), which appears to be all anyone could want in a preamp. Had I investigated them further I would have gotten one of their ~ $1000 models, as I purchased a Hattor XLR from AGon customer. That said I am excited to receive it, hopefully by Friday

handyman, you are right.. and so is tweak1 about 2 weeks make a difference..  After taking in all the suggestions  and read the reviews , made phone calls , etc...  I bought the Parasound JC2-BP.. I know, I'm sorry.. I wanted tube..  The tube stuff that seemed to fit the bill of what I wanted it to do was out of my price range.. And some that seemed reachable there was question marks, either in the multiple reviews or when I called them to talk to them directly.. Example, one of the first question is "will this be able to drive my 100kohm amp and a 30kohm sub at the same time ? "  I'd get a pause before the answer and they all said yes.. But to me it sounded like " yes, but... "  It seems as though I'm the only one trying a add a sub to the system the way I want to do it....  Anyway I mentioned the Wyred4Sound STP-SE2.. I called them and without hesitation they said it can be done.. So it swung me to rethink about solid state.. And there's 2 right off the bat that was in my price range.. STP-SE2 and the JC2-BP..  2 phone calls later I pulled the trigger on the JC …  I want to thank everyone for their help.. I hope nobody is pissed at me.. I learned a lot.. Now I'll be looking for a new smaller musical sub that's easy to drive.. 

My Freya is quiet even with the stock tubes (I looked pretty hard for the much feared microphony in those...none was to be found, and no hum or hiss in my well sorted rig), and they now offer new Tung Sols as a factory option as well as the SS tube substitues that, to me anyway, make no sense...some have whined about tube microphonics with these but I apparently dodged that bullet...I'm using NOS Sylvania "Chrome domes" now but the Tung Sols were fine. The Freya is simply a great sounding preamp (I use it with a Dennis Had SEP) that serves to shame many others out there at multiples its cost, with 3 modes for listening, balanced ins and outs, remote, and that silly price.

oem, I expect you'll be very happy

In the past I have had all tube systems cryoed tubes, all kit differentially balanced. zzwhen you get up into JC 2 territory, I think the differences are slight, but no tubes to worry over, or wait to warm up, or have to turn off...

It seems  a lot of powered sub inputs have not taken output into proper consideration

Also Class D  amplifier chipsets have advanced significantly, but I doubt many powered sub manufacturers are using newest tech

If i do it over I will get passive subs and power with outboard amp/s, or maybe a passive integrated

OEM wheels—I have the ModWright 205, a Plinius SA-100 modded and updated, and I’m looking for a preamplifier that sounds as good as it better than running the Amplifier from the XLR oppo outputs. 

The problem with the Oppo into the Pilinius is I can only go to 30-40 and then it’s too loud. I am afraid of missing bits of information.

How does the JC2 sound compared to just the Oppo running the amplifier? 

I’m mainly interested in 3D soundstage and great imaging, and a dead quiet sound floor. 

I also have the Benchmark 100 watt amplifier—which is dead quiet too. 

kaufman ,  I'm really enjoying the JC2.. Sounds really good plus eases my mind knowing all the bits is there.. Highly recommend .. 

here's an amazing buy: Audio Alchemy DDP-1 with PS 5 power supply (damn near impossible to find separately)

Fully balanced, and includes a terrific DAC

Oem-wheels—thanks for the update, I’ll order the Parasound JC2 BP today. 

I tried RCA passive resistors last night and it was dead quiet but I felt the dynamics dropped off in the bottom octaves. The passive resistors were $500 each 20 years ago and use Vishay or similar quality resistors and were the rage for tweakers. 

Parasound JC2 BP sounds great in my system driving a Plinius SA 100 MKII (updated by Vince Galbo), Modwright UDP-205 Oppo with upgraded tubes x3, and Bob Crump power cords on all equipment. Cables are mixed and matched. 

Nice.. I'm still enjoying mine... No regrets.. Glad you like yours.. I think I can use an upgrade in the amp department now..  : )  Expensive hobby..