Any High End Tube Preamps with *gasp tone controls?


After dropping in a vintage Scott 222C into my system while my amp was out for repair I'm really missing the tone controls now that my amplifier is back. It seems sacrilegious but I just can't get the bass where I want it without a bit of boost plus I'm sure my hearing is changing as I get older so why not be flexible... even if it results in me being thrown out of the audiophile club.

dhcod

Audio Research SP-6 does not have tone controls. Neither do the SP-7,8,9, or 10….

When you say “high end”, I unsure exactly what level you are looking at. The best unit I am aware of is the AVM PA8.3 preamp. You customize the design by choosing the cards you want included and it has both tube as SS output choices and tone controls. Most configurations put it in the $20k to $25k range and it is quite fairly priced in terms of what it delivers from a sound quality perspective. You would find it competitive with VAC or other preamps in that price range in terms of quality.

full disclosure, I am an AVM dealer. Not just trying to shill my products.  As you can see, the list of products with tone controls is not long.  

When you say “high end”, I unsure exactly what level you are looking at. The best unit I am aware of is the AVM PA8.3 preamp. You customize the design by choosing the cards you want included and it has both tube as SS output choices and tone controls. Most configurations put it in the $20k to $25k range and it is quite fairly priced in terms of what it delivers from a sound quality perspective. You would find it competitive with VAC or other preamps in that price range in terms of quality.

full disclosure, I am an AVM dealer. Not just trying to shill my products.  As you can see, the list of products with tone controls is not long.  

I'm replacing a Lamm LL 2.1 and don't want to spend too much more than that, so I'm a bit below the AVM configuration you mention. Is there a more bare bones config? I'm vinyl only.

My Luxman tone controls are outstanding. I’ve had other pre’s with tone controls that immediately veiled the music but not these.

Hopefully there are other outstanding solutions as well.

To be fair, I do most of my sweetening in the digital domain via Roon, but I've never felt like my music suffered when I used the Lux loudness or bass/treble controls.

My Luxman tone controls are outstanding.

Which one do you use? I'm trying to get my tube tech to let me borrow his CL35 III. I read that the CL34 might be the best sounding, though.