@emil I'm in a
similar situation looking for a tube pre in the $2k price range.
What I did was I acquired a couple tube pre's that had good reviews: deHavilland Ultraverve III and Don Sachs DS 2, but then last week also acquired a Pass XP-10 to
make things even more interesting. I’ll get right down to the nitty-gritty if you don’t feel like reading my entire post: Don Sachs has fantastic
detail, deHavilland UV is simply addicting, XP-10 absolutely disappears. All of
them come with remote. They all sound good and have zero noise, great dynamics and a
nice, even presentation.
I got the Don
Sachs in January this year with stock tubes. Set-up was easy and
took only about 20 minutes to warm up. The music just flows out of this one with
a clean image and fantastic presence. I found myself listening far into the
music wanting to hear every little detail. The clarity! Also has a nice, wide presentation
that I liked very much. For build quality I give it a super high mark, and I
LOVE the inclusion of a digital volume readout. I feel very retro-cool and hip owning
this pre, it’s very good looking.
Without
changing any variables, I inserted into my system a deHavilland Ultraverve III Remote with a NOS 1944 Sylvania 6SN7 tube. After 20-30 minute warm up I noticed a
very relaxed presentation, sweet and delicate, but it could also rock out with
the proper music. A jack of all trades? Yes. I listened to it daily and found myself after
work rushing home so I could listen loud before my wife arrived. I also
realized I was saying no to social invites so I could spend more time with this
pre. Amazing detail, very clean, and soooo relaxed. Very addicting.
For the
next couple months, I switched back and forth between DS and deHavilland. Both
are easy on tubes won't need replacement for many hundreds if not thousands of hours.
And then came the Pass XP-10 last week. What
can I say? This has all good qualities of the other two, and none of the good
qualities of the other two --- I just can’t hear it the darn thing… and that’s good.
It disappears when you play music. I can’t really tell you how it sounds, I’ve
tried to make note, but can’t. I’m not sure my audiophile-self can put up this!
But I love it. Build quality is fantastic, and the volume knob is addicting. This
thing is a chunk of quality material.
I can’t
keep on owning three pre-amps (four if you count my LSA passive). I thought
this experiment would result in a clear winner – it has not, I like all three.
Which might be a good thing and good news for you. Three amazing presentations
at reasonable prices that I think most would find different but enjoyable
regardless of choice.
Let us know what you end up doing. If you ever near Sacramento, I'd invite you for a listen. You'll just have to leave before the wife arrives from work (JK).
~Tom
