Looking for warm tube preamp (should pair well with Pass power amp), budget $6000

Thanks so much guys for your many suggestions really appreciate it.

@fertguy  Did you find bhk sig pre to be a warm pre? From what i read its more neutral?

@erik_squires My understanding are the pass pre amps are fairly neutral sounding and of course SS so will lose out some of the staging properties of tube preamps.

@audioman58 Messaged don today. Definitely something im considering or maybe build the sp14 kit its based on. Not sure if his preamp is warm / rich.

@pesky_wabbit I'll look into that. I also heard changing the 6550 tube to Tung Sol from the sovtek leads to a much warmer sound. Going to find a Tung sol off ebay.

@ghdprentice @runwell  Interesting. Definitely didn't think of that. I wanted the power since my speakers are really not sensitive but ARC amps might work well. Are ARC amps more neutral and natural sounding rather than bloomy and wet?

@hilde45 Yup its not just tubes, the caps, circuit design, chokes etc can impact the tonal quality.

@rocray @cmach  Is Aric's gear warm sounding?

Look for a 6SN7 preamp- will have much bigger tone 

PS Audio also takes trade ins.

PS Audio       BHK Signature Preamp.  $6600 new......$3500 used.

Buy it & don't look back.

Well I assume you are looking for something that is not Pass.

Luxman or CJ are my thoughts.

I honestly do love the SLP05, but I don’t feel the same warmth

Probably why they still make the SLP98. I got mine from Kevin Deal with the F1 modifications. I don't think I'll ever sell it. I like it with my AES Sic-Pacs and my Quicksilver Monos. 

Audio valve from Germany very good sounding 

Don Sachs preamps with Duelund caps use 6sn7 tubes very nice sounding .

@russ69 from the pictures of the ’98 I’ve seen, I hear you. That line of pre certainly evolved since the SLP 90 & ’94, didn’t it. I still own the SLP 90 that I upgraded from with the 05, & the SLP 90 truly is a "sweet LITTLE preamp" (its power supply must be a quarter of the size of the ’05’s power supply, and the chassis of the preamp section is way smaller by comparison).

But speaking of a "warm preamp", I always thought of my SLP 90 as that. Maybe it wasn’t, maybe it was just the set up it was in, or mabe it was the Mullard 12au7s. I felt it was a huge sonic upgrade from the B&K HT preamp I had in front of my (at the time of upgrade) ARC VTM 120s. It went from being in front of the ARCs to being in front of a Cary V12 (which is still there) & I still thought it was a warm sounding set up. I honestly do love the SLP05, but I don’t feel the same warmth. And again, that could be the tubes, except for 3 & 6 (the balanced ins), the other 4 are still the stock EHs.

try swapping a couple of the 6H30 tubes with 6N6P‘s, preferably 60‘s Reflectors with the square getter if you can get hem. Should achieve what u want without changing gear :)

Agree with @ghdprentice 

You are better to choose tube amplifier instead. Used Audio research Ref 75 might be a good choice with your price range.

A lot of people choose SS power amplifier, and I try to remind several times, if they replace with tube amplifier, the result will be big different.

I always use tube amplifier, This is 100% for me.

and for the pre, most of time I love SS pre. 

I always  think the  tube power amplifier is the right way to go.

I owned a Audio Research 5SE for many years, with a Pass amp. The best thing I did was to get rid of the Pass amp and replace it with an ARC amp. Honestly, most likely you are thinking of replacing the wrong component. Replace your amp with a used Ref75… or better. this will have the effect you are looking for. Audio Research Reference preamps above 3 are just plain world class… their amps are just amazing… I now have a ARC Ref 6SE. And a Ref 160s amp… although I have been using ARC Ref 160m monoblocks for the last couple months. These are an incredible combo.

When you say "warm preamp" I don't follow.

If you said, "warm tubes for preamp" I would follow better. But maybe there is such a thing as a "warm preamp" above and beyond the tubes put into it.

If that is true, I'd appreciate folks teaching me that.

Aric Audio as @cmach pointed out. I run the Motherlode II with First Watt amps.  I find it to be an excellent pairing.  

BAT, Atma-Sphere or Conrad-Johnson.

I'm running an Aric Audio Super 6SN7 right now on my Pass Labs XA30.8. Its a wonderful match. I would look into the Aric's Motherload II as its in your price range and might be worth your consideration.

Good luck

I think any Mac tube (or solid-state for that matter) runs on the warm side of neutral. 

LOL!  Nothing little about the SLP 05.

Same for the SLP-98. It's only little if you don't count the "loaf of bread" power supply. 

I use a McIntosh C2300 tube preamplifier bought new in 2008. I replaced the Chinese made "McIntosh" tubes inside it with NOS Telefunken tubes. I use it with a McIntosh MC2205 power amplifier. Very, very pleasant sound. 

LOL!  Nothing little about the SLP 05.

Source:  SLP 05 owner.

Cary SLP-98 or SLP-05. SLP stands for Sweet Little Preamp.