The future of preamps

If you can hear differences between interconnect cables then the source is not controlling the cable.

This has been understood for the last 60 years. The history of balanced line operation goes back to the phone company, and its success was immediately taken up by the recording and broadcast industry and resulted in what was called 'hifi'.

I wish more people would get this. The 600 ohm standard eliminates cable artifacts. It is that simple. Unfortunately high end audio embraces single ended designs much more so than true balanced differential designs that support the 600 ohm standard. As a result we have cables that in some ways can act as tone controls and as a further result we have cable manufacturers who add who knows what to their cable designs to propagate this further, while taking the opportunity to charge a premium for their tone controls.

My experience with single ended designs has taught me to use very short interconnects with low capacitance to eliminate artifacts, but the sources have to be up to the task as well. Much more complicated than my balanced system that supports the 600 ohm standard, thanks to Ralph's help.

What is your definition of tube magic? Some people like myself prefer transparency and neutrality, I like the sound to be as close to the source as possible. Most of the magic is in the recording itself. The job of the system is to reproduce the recorded sound as faithfully as possible.

Atma-Sphere products are among the most transparent I have heard. Yet unlike many solid state components, they render a very life like presentation which I believe has always been a big advantage well designed tube circuits enjoy over solid state. They also expose bad recordings, but that is a trade off I will take any day. If by using the term "tubey" you mean warmth and coloration then Atma-Sphere products might not be for you.

It might be more to your benefit to seek out older Cary preamps like an SLP-98 or older Conrad Johnson preamps. These will provide a warm and somewhat syrupy sound that some people prefer. However, based on my experience they just sound warm and fat in comparison to highly transparent tube components. If you have the opportunity audition both types of preamps and hear the difference for yourself.

Disclaimer: I have been a very satisfied Atma-Sphere customer and am now an Atma-Sphere dealer.