Conrad Johnson ACT2 against Audio Research Ref 3

Odd that the VTL 7.5 even qualifies as a tube preamp. It is all solid state except for two 12 AX7's.

Wonder why they left out the Aesthetix Callisto? Maybe because it has 22 tubes?

Oneobgyn, I usually agree with you but

FWIW.... The perfect preamp is no preamp at all

Maybe, but in my opinion it's kind of like a car with no transmission.

Sure, a car with no transmission is lighter, fewer parts to move, and less mass "in the way" for the engine to drive the rear wheels. However, matching load for the most efficient power transfer is frequently more important than removing the "excess" parts.

It's true this opinion is based on my experience with (primarily) analog source, and my choice requires both a preamp and moving coil step up stage.

Looking at the bright side though, my preamp and phono are only 300 pounds and 6 boxes, each about the size of your amps. The sound is wonderful and you hardly notice the preamps when your not home.

Then, you did not sell your preamp.

I guess I don't understand why you said better without one. I assumed you had given up on the ARC.

Jafox,

Regarding:

A 10m RCA-RCA IC from my line stage to the amps works just fine. The CAT amps only have single-ended inputs which initially bothered me, but once I heard music with them, it was a moot issue. And any report that such lengths need to be balanced, at least in the context of my system, is simply not accurate.

Ditto for me, just sub VTL where you typed CAT. My single ended runs have no problems performance wise or noise wise.

I also agree the Aesthetix Io sounds better using the balanced out. In my case, only a one meter run to the Aesthetix Callisto.