ALAL great recommendations. I’ve used a tube amplifier for years and so my choice was the VYL 6.5 pre amp. It added depth and soundstage to an already sweet system (DAC is a Brinkmann Nyquist). I live in So Cal and the VTL is manufactured near by-that was a big factor in the event it ever needs service.
Help recommend a good tube preamp
I am looking for recommendations for a good, fully balanced tube preamp (< $4k - $12k) for my system:
DAC: Holo May
Power amp: Hegel H30 (input impedance (balanced / XLR) = 25k ohms)
Speakers: Focal Maestro Utopia III
Room: 20ft X 21ft
Music: mostly jazz / classical. Some classic rock.
Preamps tried before: McIntosh C2600, Hegel P30, Holo Serene, Rogue RP5
Constraints: output impedance should not be high (as my amplifier’s input impedance is quite low)
I tried C2600 (but with different amp / speakers).
Recently, I tried Rogue RP5 - sounded great but it does not have XLR out (H30’s unbalanced input impedance is a measly 9.6 kilo ohms). So, a natural recommendation would be the Rogue Audio RP7 - except that in the Stereophile review’s measurements section, John Atkinson recommends not using the pre with amps with less than 30k input impedance (affects low frequency response).
Thanks.