I have been home demoing the BelCanto amp over the last month on weekends with different preamps and have listened to Cary (great) but the single ended version, VTL 5.5 also good and new version has ballanced inputs I believe. Hovland-ok but not my cup of tea., AudioNote M2 with silver wiring and black gate caps YES YES fabulous!!! Creek passive volume which is what my buddy went with believe it or not for 300 bucks- yes it's that good but I would have gone with the Cary or Audio Note. We also listened to the Joule Electra ok and Mark Levenson (yuck) the creek was better! and I know Belles has a nice pre you should look into or a very safe bet is the Audible Illusion of course- good luck
Good preamp for Bel Canto EVo 200.2?
I got this amp last week through Audiogon contact. Now I need a decent preamp. A lot of what I have read says that preamp is maybe more important than the amp. Soundstage had good luck with a tube (Gill) pre. Cary is made across town. Would their new balanced pre be a good way to start? How about BC PRe1? Any other suggestions?