Budget Tube Preamp ($2000)

Sorry I didn't chime in sooner. I sent my Schiit Freya Plus back when I got this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS4LwM7omSE

easy now wolf - take a chill pill

your freya is good... really is

it's ok

I have used many tube preamps with LP’s and CDP’s. And although I mate them with tube amps, sometimes I try my tbe preamps with SS amps like my Proton and MArantz 140. As to the best preamps, from the following list:

McIntosh C-11 (owned 3)
McIntosh C-20 (owned 3 too)
Conrad Johnson PV1, PV-8, PV10a
Dynaco PAS-2, PAS-3 and PAS-3X
Nikko Beta 500 (SS, not tube)
Heathkit WA-P2 (mono boxes, so u need two controlled via one stereo volume pot to make a stereo set a worthy and useable try)
Radford SC22 (SS+tube at the phono stage, tubes at the line stage; I have had two)
Radford SC2 (all tube design but needs external DIY PSU like the Heathkit’s)
EICO HF-85 (all tube design)

I’d say the best value is the Heathkit if you can DIY a joint volume pot, and make your pown power supply to feed them with 300VDC regulated at 30ma total, and 6.3 VAC for the tube filaments. A pair is equivalent in circuitry design to Fisher 50C which costs many times over the Heathkit, and probably sound not much different from each other. A pair of WA-P2 should not cost you over 100 US$ if you buy from local sources, and I imagine it would be a common item at thrift stores.

If you wanna spend your 1k US$ on an absolute best among the list above (it’s just my experience, someone else will tell you his), I’d suggest the PV-1 from Conrad Johnson, or PV-2 which is the same thing with delayed signal at turn-on. These are becoming rarer and rarer and they prices are rising commenruately. I got mine in mint condition at about $725 from a hifi friend of mine. It is probably the only ones among CJ’s PV line that uses NFB, while later models from PV-5 onwards, use no NFB. So the PV-1 and PV-2 sound distinguishingly clean in a tubey way with warm mid-bass. It is at its best playing symphonic music, and not bad at all playing chamber. If you have a chance, compare it with Marantz 7C, vintage or re-issues. You’d wonder why they are priced that far apart nowadays.

Forget about McIntosh C-11 and C-20 and C-22. Complete waste of money even if you use TFK tubes on them. You’d want them for display only if you come across some in minty condition.

used primaluna 

the op states below that he already bought a schiit freya plus

it is a good unit, especially for the money

decent intro for him to tubes in his system 

let's wish him a fun time listening to it