what preamp for ARC VT 130?

Buy an ARC LS-2 pull the sovtech out and put in a NOS Mullard.

Yor are right, ARC amps sound best with ARC preamps. I still love listening to my SP-8 and D-115,great sound, and that is after 15 years!

For best possible results, you need the best tube amplifier out there; The Lamm LL2. The LL2 is truly the most musical all tube preamp currently made, and it doesn't cost an arm or a leg either.

You have a wonderfully crafted amplifier. Melos is a fine produc, with a huge output for a preamp-in this situation it is largly a matter of taste. The most important factor being the preservation of the audio researches already great sound-you could go direct using a cd player with a digital volume control-tremendously pure and use an arc-phone pre for records-basically even a well built solid state pre would be fine-but listen around-audible illusions, melos, arc, sonic frontiers, cj, cat, bat-you'll probably fid the sounds more alike than different in that echelon and end up with a cost/asthetic answer-good luck. f.c.