Good Preamp for Emerald Physics 2.3

Prism Orpheus is an amazing piece of equipment. Works beautifully with the CS2.3s. It's the only way to go. When coupled with spatial, it creates jaw-droppingly beautiful sound. Behringer sucks all warmth out of the system. It doesn't work. Tube preamp only makes it worse. You have to kill the Behringer.

Rclassen:

I have heard nothing but great feedback on the Orpheus, its capabilities and sound quality. This however comes at a hefty price when you get into the Spatial paradigm.

How can a tube preamp would make a Behringer-driven CS2.3 system worse? Inserting a good quality tube preamp (with quality vintage tubes) in just about any system can make a profound impact on body, weight and warmth.

Please explain.

Rclassen,
Thanks for reporting on the Orpheus from personal use.
I figured it may be the way to go.Next major purchase.
Peterd

The best tube pre-amps from the $1,000 to $5,000 range would be as follows:

The Doge 8 ~ $1,150 (an incredible bargain for top drawer
performance. Comes with a phono stage.

The Audio Horizon 2.2 ~ $2,750 (excellent performance
many upgrades possible).

Coincident Technology Linestage ~ $5,000 ( a great bargain
considering its mind-blowing performance. Only downside is it only has 2 inputs.

Greg

Hooper, Rclaassen is right. I would go the Prism route. I briefly owned the 2.3s, and while they have a lot of promise, I think the cheap pro digital unit is a compromise. You can blunt the sonic contributions with tubes, but there are limitations. Clayton Shaw designed that speaker, and subsequently designed the Spatial rig. You can dialogue with him about the reasons why. There are multiple grades to choose from, not just the Orpheus which is expensive. It gives you so much more control, from the x-over, to room correction, to flexibility with source material (hi rez material...24/192, etc), and you can even add tube simulators which are little DSP-like programs that run in the digital domain. If you like what the 2.3s are doing, its a no-brainer.