Tube pre-amp for Bel Canto EVO 200.2

Being a Bel Canto dealer I can state that the best preamp that I have used with the Evo's is the First Sound Preamps.

I have used the Presence deluxe Mk 11 and the Paramount and they are both extraordinary matches.

I will gladly tell you all the tube pre amps and solid state preamps that I tried with the Evo's if you would like to email me but I will not spell it out in print. I see no purpose in playing products against each other.

Great combination.

I bought a used EVo here the beginning of this month. Since then I have been using my Classe' CAP 151 integrated as it's preamp. It doesen't sound bad, but I too would like a little tube influence in my system. I have been waiting for the next Carolina Audio Society meeting on 11/11/01 . At that meeting, The EVo will be featured with the new Cary preamp. Living 20 minutes from Cary Audio, I saw this pre and it's very nice except unlike other Cary preamps, it's a balanced , enclosed design. It has HT bypass and a tube headphone stage. Check it out at the Cary website.
Soundstage review also liked the EVo with the Gill tube preamp. Later, when the PRe1 got brokein,it sounded better and gave the reviewer an alternative to the Gill that seemed more agile to keep up with this very fast amp. I want to hear it matched both ways so I can pick the sound that I want. There are lots of tube and SS preamps other than these two expensive ones to audition. Have fun with your search.
claud

Before you switch to tubes, read Srajan Ebean's article on Bel Canto's new preamp(somewhere in the Soundstage network). He found it to be a sublime match with Bel Canto amps, and this from a fairly dedicated tube guy. He also raised an interesting point about putting a relatively noisier tube preamp in a position to handle the very low-level and delicate audio signals at that point in the chain(part of the benefit of the 200.2 is the low noise and distortion level to begin with, and you run more of a risk compromising that with tubes). If it were me, I'd think twice about going with a tube preamp, and there seem to be some serious synergies with BC's new SS preamp and their digital amps. Of course you can always look at BC's own tube preamps. Best of luck.

Tim