Help choose a preamp ... Belles & Wyred

I would strongly suggest looking into one of the used Belles 21A with Aucicaps that come up for sale. This is a wonderful amp. I have looked at the parts of the 22A and though it is probably a very nice preamp it does not have the parts quality of the auricap 21A. I have compared my 21A against many linestages and am always impressed with the 21A. I am currently auditioning a VTL TL6.5, ($11,500) which is wonderful, more detail and air, better dynamics. But when I put in my 21A I am not at all disappointed. I did upgrade tubes to NOS RCA which were a little over $200 for the pair, use stillpoints and of course have the four big yellow Auricap capacitors. I also use an audience powerchord e. PS, I will not be selling the belles even when I upgrade my preamp.

belles.

I'm using a Belles 21A with Auricaps and love it! I have both RCA BP and CV4003 Mullards and prefer the Mullards in my system.

Wig

I would go with the Belles also. As far as W4S gear, the professional reviews are universally glowing. Impressions of actual owners (including myself) are a lot more mixed, to say the least. Of course, you could always try the W4S for a 30-day trial period and return if not to your liking. Of course, W4S emphasizes that they strongly discourage returns and recommend an enormous amount of burn-in that would be hard to complete in a 30-day trial, unless you ran your unit 24/7 for three straight weeks.

have not heard wyred, but just bought belles 21a and it beats almost all I have ever heard!!! I use this with Vac 160 musicblocks and audio note dac 3 sig...old theta transport and apogee clock in between...avalons or def tech st towers with sub...killer sound which really improved with the 21a!!!!