Bryston BP-17 cubed or Benchmrk LA4 Preamp

I have owned a lot of Bryston gear. Including the BP20 preamp (not the same level as the BP-17).  Bryston always gives me a bit of fatigue. Even the BP-17 and the 4B3 with Vanderstream Treo speakers had that hardness on top that I knew so well from the Bryston SST line I had.

If you want a neutral preamp, The LA4 is amongst the very best at ANY price. I would use the LA4 with any amp I owned at any price. Now if you want colour then the LA4 is not for you. The LA4 will sound like your other gear.

I use the LA4 with my Sanders Magtech amp at the moment, no fatigue. The LA4 was also used the following amps:

• CODA #16
• CODA #8
• KRELL DUO 175XD
• Parasound A21+
• Benchmark AHB2

All of the amps sounded great with the LA4.

BTW - I owned the Bryston BHA-1 headphone amp. I would think that this amp is better than the amp in the BP-17. I found the BHA-1 fatiguing. In comparison the Benchmark HPA4 preamp (I stupidly sold) was state of the art for a neutral sound (no fatigue).

@kevemaher sorry, but I’ve got zero experience with Levinson.  If you’re looking for  warmth, I’m not sure either of these will give it to you.  I think the Bryston is even cooler sounding than the Benchmark.

Now, I've been looking at the Pass XP-12. It has all the features I am interested in.

I've read that it is warmer sounding than the Benchmark and Bryston preamps. Will it match well with my Bryston 2.5B^3 power amp?

New ones are at my price limit, but I can pick up a used model for about the price of a used BP-17^3.

Opinions on the warmth of the Pass XP-12? Thanks.

@kevemaher If it has a volume control, have you tried connecting the BDA-3 directly to your amp? You would need to turn the gain way down before doing this. The sound will tell you which direction, warmer or more neutral than the M-L, you are looking to go.  As mentioned above, The Benchmark LA-4 is "neutral" as is the Holo Serene preamp. The tubed LTA microZOTL is another excellent option. While I never heard the Pass XP-12 it is probably very good but maybe a bit warmer than the ones mentioned above. Not sure how you feel about Ayre preamps but they are  also on the slightly warmer side and the reliability is up there with Pass electronics.

I could try this test using the volume control on my Oppo BDP-105 to play digital media and files. This seems to be a good way to estimate the sonic signature of the 38s.

I want to stay analog all the way with my other sources - a tuner and two cartridges - so I will only use the above for testing. I need a control amp to select the different analog and digital sources. After the preamp, my system is all analog (EQ, crossover and speakers). The only digital components are the Oppo and the BDA-3.