Budget Tube Preamp ($2000)


Hello guys,
First post here!

I am in the market for a tube preamplifier for my current system, to add a bit of warmth. My budget is under $2000, the cheaper the better, Mainly looking at the used market (I love great deals). 
My build currently:
- Monitor Audio Silver 300 speakers
- Project Debut Carbon Turntable
- Marantz Cd5005 CD player
- Cambridge Audio Azur 851N
- Rotel RB 1582 Mkii Power Amp

If you guys have suggestions, I appreciate it a lot! For the inputs, if the preamp has XLR that would be great as I'm currently running my Azur 851N to my amp through a balanced connection and it sounds pretty good. This is not completely necessary though. 

Thanks!


128x128saltboy
Are you looking to add some warmth to your system or to your listening room? A good tube preamp will give you more depth, but warmth? I don't think so.
Hello everyone,

Thank you for all your suggestions. I decided to go with the Schiit Freya Plus as it fit my budget really well, and had the features that I was looking for. Planning on spending the extra money I had on rolling some 6sn7 :)

Thank you, everyone! shoutout to @georgehifi for the tip! 
@saltboy

freya+ is good place to start

place it well, isolation wise... that unit and the tubes it uses can be quite microphonic... one of the downsides to tube units, this one is particularly susceptible