No remote control, but the basic Bottlehead Foreplay tube preamp kit is $150 plus shipping. It uses two 12au7/ecc82 type tubes (supplied with the kit) which can be easy/inexpensive to replace/experiement with.
I have used one for well over a year now and highly recommend it. Compares well sonically with anything I have run against it (popular tube preamps in the $800-$2500 range).
It requires a good build and perhaps the addition of a snubber circuit (or two) in order to operate on the quiet side (for a tube preamp). Considering that you built your power amp this should not be a problem, plus there is plenty of help available in their forum.
Go to Bottlehead.com for more info and also check out the chat room/forum.
Mine is basically stock except for stepped dual mono volume pots (from Bottlehead) and the addition of a snubber circuit made up from cheap parts.
I never installed the C4S mod (you can read about this @ Bottlehead) as I'm not certain that I would care for the sound (the positive feedback of others describes a type of sound that I tend to shy away from).
In stock form it offers 3 source switching and if you go for the "stereo" volume pot configuration you then have a balance control.
I have used one for well over a year now and highly recommend it. Compares well sonically with anything I have run against it (popular tube preamps in the $800-$2500 range).
It requires a good build and perhaps the addition of a snubber circuit (or two) in order to operate on the quiet side (for a tube preamp). Considering that you built your power amp this should not be a problem, plus there is plenty of help available in their forum.
Go to Bottlehead.com for more info and also check out the chat room/forum.
Mine is basically stock except for stepped dual mono volume pots (from Bottlehead) and the addition of a snubber circuit made up from cheap parts.
I never installed the C4S mod (you can read about this @ Bottlehead) as I'm not certain that I would care for the sound (the positive feedback of others describes a type of sound that I tend to shy away from).
In stock form it offers 3 source switching and if you go for the "stereo" volume pot configuration you then have a balance control.