For what it’s worth, I had an Audio Research SP-16 and a brand new Schiit Freya + for about 3 months. I did some critical listening and some tube rolling with both. I ended up selling the Audio Research. The 6sn7 tubes were just better to my ears. And when tube rolling, the 6sn7’s made a huge difference in sound. I ended up with 2 NOS GE’s in the buffer stage and NOS Ken rads in the gain stage. A sweet Lucious tube sound. Plus it had XLR’s out for my Krell amp. The Audio Research sounded decent but it was single ended, and new production tubes versus NOS tubes didn’t really make a major difference in sound.
Best Used Tube Based Preamp $2k Or Under?
As the title says, I am pondering my best options for purchasing a tube based preamp for $2k or under. Must have a remote!
Your opinions, thoughts, and expertise would be greatly appreciated. If I was spending more, I would know most of the best choices, but I'm on unfamiliar ground at this price limit. But sometimes, you can only do what you can do.
Thanks for any help.