Look into or try to demo Rogue Magnum series or Conrad Johnson.
I've heard the Rogue and it was nice...
Don't know if Conrad has remote???The Rogue does. |
Rouge 99 is great! I found it does exactly what you want with my neutral Bryston & Maggies. Not much smaller than an ARC, but not as neutral. Quicksilver makes a tube remote line stage, but I've not heard it. It is smaller and less expensive. |
Sonic Frontiers preamps are a good value ...great parts & build quality.......would probably tame your harshness a bit, and hey, they have sounded great in my rig, I went from a Line 3 to a 3SE. I used to have a levinson amp, but now have BAT 150SE's. A Line 2SE or Line 3, or even a Line 3SE all are in your budget......and the disc shaped remote is very nice! They are often seen on Agon.... There ARE warmer tube preamps than the SF though. |
Try looking for Copland preamps. I had one before I bought my Hovland, sold my Hovland and bought another Copland. Extremely holographic, slimline, not ugly, and it has a good feel to the controls. Look for CTA 301 MKII, I believe, for remote or CTA 305 which is the latest. They can be had used for about $1000. |
c-j Premiere 14. There's an auction for one right now, they typically go gor about 2K and are remote controlled and fairly compact in terms of height. |
Which Pass Labs amp? Pass is not known for brightness. What cables are you using. |
I recommend a Conrad Johnson Premier 17ls you should have no problem finding one within your budget, or 16ls (used) if you can stretch a bit; both have remote. Bigkdz makes a good point Pass Labs are not known for brightness. I have found them to be very smooth and warm almost, dare I say it, tube like. Keep in mind the pre-amp is the life blood of your system as I have found it to be a greater contributor to great sound than the amplifier or front end (digital).
Chuck |
The CJ preamps would be my first choice, but they are fairly neutral, just a tad warm. If you really want to tame an edgy or hot amp, try a Sunfire Classic Tube Preamp. |
I second the Sonic Frontiers stuff. I love my Line 1 |
McIntosh C2200, which retails for 4500$, but shoud already be on Audiogon or e-bay, and which otherwise fills all your requirements |
Geez, that's easy. Look for a product known as Sellthekrell, works every time for removing that annoying harshness!!! |
Try Audible Illusion Mod 3A with premium tubes. |
Thanks for all the input so far. I am auditioning a Conrad Johnson 17LS as we speak, so I'll let you know the results soon. |
what about the Supratek Syrah?
See the thread about "best preamp" |
Save some of your budget for NOS tubes! Those Sovteks can be a bit harsh. |
after reviewing the CJ 17LS I was surprised and ultimately frustrated to find out that the so called "analog pass thru" on the Krell Showcase 7.1 isn't really what it is hyped as. Unless you can find a way to double loop the preamp thru the Krell (and this isn't possible according to Krell) it never allows for true pass thru. This holds true regardless of preamp manufacturer. It is a design element of the Krell, and not a very usefull one from a customer perspective. Maybe I should apologize to "sellthekrell" afterall, but for different reasons! |
