PREAMP suggestions

I can't speak to synergy with your VTL gear - and in that respect I'd bet other VTL gear might be a fine choice. I've recently been very impressed by Emmanuel Go's First Sound (current) offerings. Other than that, Modwright 36.5 is my own pre of choice, because it works so well with his amps that I'm using. That's all that comes to mind in that price range that I've actually heard and impressed me over the past year, though I've heard a handful of others that did not in the respective system that they were being used in (important).

I've been looking around preamps for a while too, and decided on a Lamm LL2. It's a great minimalist design, but RCA only. First Sound was also on my short list and is also RCA only; Mr Go is great to deal with and can provide a very credible explanation of why he believes XLR is not an advantage over RCA for this application and how he has tried both and stuck with RCA.

Other preamps I had on my short list were Atma-Sphere MP3, Audio Valve Eklipse, Aesthetix Calypso, and Joule Electra LA150 MK2 or 3. So, all tube units, all in the $2.5 to $3.5k range (used), and all very good.

I hope this helps.

I think Lewinski's post offers some very good suggestions. I have the same amp as the OP and these are the tube preamps I would consider.

thanks very much for the ideas everyone. I really have no desire to get another single ended preamp as the TL2.5 sounds excellent. The above post does leave me curious though as to how an RCA to XLR run down 20ft of cable would benefit over a balanced connection. Does this theory stem from the design characteristics of less circuitry in a non balanced preamp?