preamps under $1000

Petro85

Petro85

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so i sold off my beloved hovland. although i loved it and thought the phonostage in it is hard to beat, i want to start running several cartridges on my ortofon quick switch arm. so wasting an awesome preamp for just volume control was not what i wanted to do. my only other source than a turntable is a very cheap cd player i only use for when im working in another room or cleaning the house. so sound doesnt really matter.
so i bought this phonostage for now, probbaly picking it up next week. to see if i like it, if i do i will upgrade the big allnic.
IMG_5438-20copy-03.jpg

im looking for temporary preamp to basically use for volume control . a preamp under $1000 preferably around the $600 area. i want tubes of course. so i can change them out to something good. my normal instinct is to buy a BAT vk3i which ive done twice in the past, but there arent any for sale right now, and ive been keeping my eye out for awhile for them with no luck. im also looking at the cutest little dared a 2000. which i read with good tubes is really good for $600.
any oppinions ??? anyone use any inexpensive but good pres??
any ideas?? oh btw by selling the hovland ,i get the phonostage(demo), a small pre, and have enough left over to either pay bills, or buy a grado reference cartridge!!!!! lmao!!!
 
forgot to mention the pic above is an allnic h1201
 
Jack said:
Steve

Here are a couple of possibilities.

Anthem Pre 2L Line Stage, Black Face Plate c/w Remote - US Audio Mart

Audible Illusions 2D Tube Pre-amp - US Audio Mart

I have owned the first one since 1999 and it is taking it's turn in the main system now. In those days the Anthem brand was Sonic Frontier's version of the JOB.
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thanks those are some good ideas. ive heard the anthem was pretty good for the money. and ive owned a AI 3a about 15 years ago. i was looking at this and for some reason i love it.lol. of course i dont expect much out of it, as i mentioned its just to control volume. but read some good reviews that said upgrade the tubes and it is a great little pre.
thanks Jack
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If you had bought that integrated in your sig you wouldn't be in this predicament. :lol:

I like the little Dared you posted. How many inputs does that have?
 
I hate to say it, but there aren't many really good tube preamps available for under $1000.00. Even if you could buy a Bat Vk-3i for under $1000, I would stay away from it anyway. I owned one for a short period of time and thought it was horrid. My brother wanted to take a baseball bat to it and smash it into as many pieces as he could. The Counterpoint SA-5.1 was a much better sounding preamp. And I hate to say this too, but if you are going to spend less than $1000 on a preamp, I think you can buy a better sounding SS preamp than a tube preamp for that kind of money.

The Yamaha C2a preamp is rare but still dirt cheap when they become available for sale. The sound is freaking incredible, never mind the old cliche "for the money." The built in phono section will kick lots of booty too. I had the ARC LS17 and it sucked compared to the C2a and the original version of the LS17 is still selling for around $2,300. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because it says "ARC" because it's not because it sounds good.
 
Jack said:
There is a Counterpoint on Audiomart for $450

Counterpoint SA-7 classic vintage tube preamp preamplifier with phono input - just serviced - US Audio Mart
Click to expand...

The 7.1 was the bottom of the line and there was two versions and both of them tend to be very microphonic. The 3.1 is outstanding for the money and comes with a really nice phono stage and the 5.1 is the best of the three and includes an outboard tube power supply and all vacuum tube voltage regulation in the main chassis.
 
Steve

Of the ones bantered about so far, in my opinion the Anthem is the best of the bunch. It is based on the Sonic Frontiers Line 3, but instead of a two chassis stainless and gold trim case, it was packaged into one plain black or silver case. It is neutral like an AR preamp instead of "tubey" like a Cary or CJ. It sold for almost $2000 fifteen years ago. Plus at their asking price when you re-sell it you should lose little or nothing.
 
ok thanks guys , i was looking at a load of them. it is not a permanent fixture, and i like the dared because i probably wont sell it after i get another pre in probably may or june. i would keep that and do something with it cause its just a cheap, cool looking piece of gear.
no idea what i would do with it, but ill figure something out.
mike i thought about that slp03, but and slp 05 is on my short list of peamps to buy in a few months. along with the CAT, and maybe even the badass allnic l3000(thats stretching the budget a bit.lmao!!)

mep i couldnt disagree more with your opinion on the vk3i. ive owned 2 at 2 different times and rolled every tube i could in and out. and 1 i kept around and tested it against some seriously fine preamps side by side. and it wasnt as good as them but damn close everytime for way less money. but it is your opinion and i respect that.
thank you all.
 
Hi Steve,

Will you entertain any SS preamps or are you tube only? Just wondering....
 
MikeCh said:
Hi Steve,

Will you entertain any SS preamps or are you tube only? Just wondering....
Click to expand...
hahaha!!! i entertain everything but probably would not buy ss anything. but i also might do it if it was the right deal. as i said its temporary so if ever i would entertain ss it would be for this purchase. but yes im tubes all the way.
 
Steve

Since this is temporary have you thought about using something like the Luminous Audio Axiom Passive if you just want a volume control. I use the Wyred STP-SE passive with the JOB in a two TT setup and it does fine. It imparts nothing and gives you only the character of what is before and after it. Since you are using tubes in the phono pre and in the amps, that would be the simple solution and they start at less than $200 for a single input model.
 
If you could live without tubes I'd say give the Parasound Halo P5 a try. Really enjoying my new P5 pre for $1000. Its my first real preamp so I'm not able to give a direct comparison to other pre's. The dealer I bought from also sell AR and he was very impressed with the P5. The P5 loses out against the AR LS-27 he had in store, but it should. $6000 difference in price … I feel like I got a steal. Built-in DAC, toslink, coax, and USB ... a phone stage, MC - 100 / 47k loads, MM 47k load ...HT bypass … Sub output with adjustable crossover … Bass / Treble with tone bypass. To numerous to mention all.
 
There is a Jolida on Agon. Here are a few chinese preamps to take a look at if you are looking for a temporary fix, these have good reviews-

s2r

It looks like the SR2 is on sale. I have seen it go for $795

Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11 D/A Converter

I own the Grant Fidelity, its a great little Preamp/DAC/tube buffer. It uses a single 6922 tube. I use a 1960 telefunken 6DJ8 in mine. With the upgraded tube it has a nice tube sound. The DAC section is very good. It is a great budget piece and a lot of bang for the buck. It would be a great stop gap. Unfortunately it does not come with a remote. I run mine with a Class D Audio digital amp and a pair of old Magnepan MMG's in my basement work out area. The stock tube is junk. It sounds best with the Telefunken or 1960 Amprex 6DJ8 non A-frame with the large or small halo getter.

The Vincent is a good deal.

I have a Van Alstine Ultra Plus hybrid tube preamp that uses 2 6CG7 tubes for sale. It was $1799 new as an Ultra SL preamp but it was factory upgraded to an Ultra Plus which was the top of the line of the Ultra series preamps and of all avahifi preamps at the time about 4 years ago, It has about $450 of upgrades. I am selling it for $900 with remote. It has multiple inputs and 2 line outs, 2 tape buffers and a HT by pass switch
 
Jack said:
Steve

Since this is temporary have you thought about using something like the Luminous Audio Axiom Passive if you just want a volume control. I use the Wyred STP-SE passive with the JOB in a two TT setup and it does fine. It imparts nothing and gives you only the character of what is before and after it. Since you are using tubes in the phono pre and in the amps, that would be the simple solution and they start at less than $200 for a single input model.
Click to expand...
jack i like that alot. its really just what i need, a volume control. i may never buy a pre if it does its job.lol. i just put in system info in their questionaire, see what they say. thank you.

AudioExile said:
If you could live without tubes I'd say give the Parasound Halo P5 a try. Really enjoying my new P5 pre for $1000. Its my first real preamp so I'm not able to give a direct comparison to other pre's. The dealer I bought from also sell AR and he was very impressed with the P5. The P5 loses out against the AR LS-27 he had in store, but it should. $6000 difference in price … I feel like I got a steal. Built-in DAC, toslink, coax, and USB ... a phone stage, MC - 100 / 47k loads, MM 47k load ...HT bypass … Sub output with adjustable crossover … Bass / Treble with tone bypass. To numerous to mention all.
Click to expand...
ive heard parasound, not sure of the model #. was nice, i dont need a phono input but i like the dac built in. an inexpensive dac is on my list, just for times when im busy and dont want to change records. and i can ditch this cd player for those times. cause i only have 5 cd's and only 2 of them sound not bright and irritating.lol.
 
Mechnutt said:
There is a Jolida on Agon. Here are a few chinese preamps to take a look at if you are looking for a temporary fix, these have good reviews-

s2r

It looks like the SR2 is on sale. I have seen it go for $795

Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11 D/A Converter

I own the Grant Fidelity, its a great little Preamp/DAC/tube buffer. It uses a single 6922 tube. I use a 1960 telefunken 6DJ8 in mine. With the upgraded tube it has a nice tube sound. The DAC section is very good. It is a great budget piece and a lot of bang for the buck. It would be a great stop gap. Unfortunately it does not come with a remote. I run mine with a Class D Audio digital amp and a pair of old Magnepan MMG's in my basement work out area. The stock tube is junk. It sounds best with the Telefunken or 1960 Amprex 6DJ8 non A-frame with the large or small halo getter.

The Vincent is a good deal.

I have a Van Alstine Ultra Plus hybrid tube preamp that uses 2 6CG7 tubes for sale. It was $1799 new as an Ultra SL preamp but it was factory upgraded to an Ultra Plus which was the top of the line of the Ultra series preamps and of all avahifi preamps at the time about 4 years ago, It has about $450 of upgrades. I am selling it for $900 with remote. It has multiple inputs and 2 line outs, 2 tape buffers and a HT by pass switch
Click to expand...

cool , thanks. again i kinda like the built in dac idea. and no remote dont bother me, hovland hp100 was never made with one. but i just got a note from the guy who bought my hovland. he needs 2 weeks to pay.lmao!!! that is the 3rd time i sold this preamp and no one wants to pay me for it.lol at least this guy is leaving me a deposit, and i get 2 weeks to think about this. i just hope my allnic phonostage is still available in 2 weeks.

thanks again everyone.
 
If you decide to go with the Grant, take a look at TC tubes for the 6DJ8's. They have a great selection of the early 1960's Amprex non Aframe tubes. The ones with the large Halo getter have a bit more detail than the one's with the small Halo getter. They also have some Amprex from 1958 with D getters. I haven't tried one but I hear that they are supposed to be very good.

I have bought many tubes from TC. They are honest, reliable and they won't sell you any bad tubes. They are a young couple that sell from their home. I usually drop by to pick up the tubes.
 
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