Looking for a preamp with XLR connections

Bel Canto PRE5. All analog. Dead quiet.  True balanced. Dynamic Range 125dB. $2,300      
 

The Pre5 is a very nice preamp (I’ve owned it) but for $300 more the Benchmark LA4 is audibly higher in resolution, quieter, and lower in distortion. It also has an additional balanced input over the Pre5, is heavier, and feels much more substantial in use. 
 

The differences in sound are not massive but in A/B comparison they are detectable. 

The Benchmark LA4 is closest to a “straight wire with gain” that I’ve heard.

No need to spend more if your goal is ultimate transparency and neutrality.

I owned the Freya+ for a time. I tried rolling many NOS tubes in an attempt to hear what all the fuss was about, but alas, it always sounded best in passive mode.

The Freya+ was quite transparent in passive form but the LA4 takes it to another level that I didn’t really think was possible. Remarkably, it doesn’t sound cold or clinical in the process.

It’s a quieter system period over and unbalanced system. His system just can’t resolve it. Tube sound is a preference not a performance spec. And a CTO to of a big company.

While balanced and differential circuits are usually superior, it is not universally so. I’ve seen measurements of at least half a dozen products for which the single-ended connections resulted in the same or better performance than the balanced option. Case in point is the Cary SLP-05 preamp (which is fully differential even). 

What matters most is compatibility between the separate components in order to minimize ground loops. Well designed gear does not induce ground loops regardless of circuit and connection type. It also helps to avoid using “boutique” or audiophile brand cables, since many of them have completely ineffective shielding and poor quality terminations. 

 

To the OP,

Be wary of what you read on the ASR forum. It’s quite apparent that many, if not most of them have little experience with high quality/audiophile-grade components. They like to hang their hat on SNR, THD and IMD specs because doing so enables them to be satisfied with cheap products. What’s even worse is that they’re not the least open-minded to the possibility that maybe researchers don’t yet fully understand how some measurement parameters
translate to what we perceive, or that there could be performance variables we’ve yet to learn we can/should measure.

I’ve owned a few of their measurement darlings. Some are good, some are great, and some are completely underwhelming. For example, the Benchmark AHB2. It’s a nice amp but I prefer the inferior measuring Parasound A21 and Pass XA25 amplifiers by a significant margin. OTOH, I have yet to hear a preamp I prefer to Benchmark’s LA4. The Topping D90 was a nice DAC but the higher noise and distortion Denafrips Ares II is better to my ears. At the end of the day, we should only care about which products bring us the greatest musical enjoyment.