Good Preamp for Emerald Physics 2.3

My advice is no preamp. I use a computer -> dac -> DBX -> amps, and the computer controls the volume. I recently tried a $10,000 tube preamp in my system and it just degraded the sound. Of course if you have to have a preamp because you do not have a volume control on your source, or you want multi-input selection, then I don't have any advice except to somehow at least try the no preamp option.

Thanks Bdhgon. I actually am old school and still use a 400 disc changer for music. I think I would prefer something a tad warmer than my B&K Ref 70 for music. But, if the signal is converted from analog->digital->analog in the Behringer 2496 than does it matter much whether the incoming signal is slightly warm or slightly bright? I could reason that a better incoming signal could be better even if it is degraded. Conversely, I could reason that the final signal is perceived as slightly bright to me because of the digital crossover at the end. I just want to know if the digital crossover is more of the problem.

I’m using a combination of an Audio Horizon tube DAC and TRL Dude preamp. The EP 2.3’s are very neutral and reveling speakers. They have Titanium tweeters which can be a bit bright with the wrong equipment - but with the right combination of tube source(s), cables and SS amps they are quite amazing. I have the DBX 260 and not the Behringer. I have found it to respond very well to upstream changes - tube rolling to be more specific. It has other minor flaws but does not add “brightness” to the mix in my system. If you have digital sources I can’t imaging not having tubes somewhere within the mix. I would NOT recommend TRL for a variety of reasons, but you might want to give Audio Horizons a call as they have tube dac’s, pre-amps and some other tube warmth gadget. I think they also offer a 30-day trial option.