Tube preamp with great pace?Cary, Supratek, etc.?


I am thinking seriously of moving to a tube preamp with the hope of breathing more life into my system. But I love the rhythmic core of music - call it PRAT, call it whatever - it is what grabs me, involves me, and keeps me up way, way too late listing to old LPs. I am afraid that without good, acurate pace, I don't care how "airy," "organic" or "blooming" the sound is, it just isn't musical to me. But if it can be combined with great pace, the tube sound is exactly what I am looking to add to my system.

So far, I've only been able to borrow a Rogue Magnum 88 to try in my system, and it was just too slow. I am considering a Cary SLP 98P, a Supratek Chenin, or perhaps a Herron VTSP1A/166. If anyone has heard these or any other tube preamp with good pace, please comment. Comparisons between them would be particularly welcome. My price range right now is 2K to 3K used, but if you know of something that is wonderful in this regard that costs more, I still want to hear about it.

There are few tube options available for me to audition in my area, and so generous Audiogoners, your input is greatly appreciated.

P.S. If you live in south-eastern Michigan and have a tube amp you are willing to let me hear, I offer in exchange lunch at the Ann Arbor restaurant of your choice.
newmanoc
mike..i agree. prat is a 'live music'-like quality, but it does come at the expense of weight and tone, other 'life like' qualities. it has since jbl and ar fought for the wallets of hi fi enthusiasts worldwide. they were opposites AND they were both right.
I bought a brand new Magnum 99 from Paragon Sound up near you, and the entire time I owned it, the preamp never came around to sounding exceptional. Bought all sorts of NOS hoping that might be the ticket, but no luck.

I then purchased a Cary SLP98L and fell in love with my system all over again. Changed out the coupling caps to Hovlands and brought out a higher quality sound.

I live 45 minutes south of you, and might be able to take you up on your lunch offer, but mine is a line stage. Drop me a email if you want.

kek
Thanks for your response! I am happy to hear the Cary did for you what the Magnum 99 did not. What is the rest of your system? I would love to get together sometime and hear your SLP 98. The fact that it is line stage only is just fine, as I strongly suspect I would end up using my Dynavector P75 phono stage even if I got the 98P version. I'll be in Toronto starting tomorrow for a few days, and won't be answering email.

Chris Newman
Kek23,

What tubes are you using in the SLP-98L? I bought mine about a month ago and got rid of the stock Chinese. I'm running cryoed Sylvania 6SN7Ws in the linestage and cryoed Sylvania 6SN7GTBs in the buffer. I've tried some other NOS combinations as well with great success.

It is a fine preamp and really sings.

Newmanoc - it's worth a listen at this close range.