Help me deceide on pre-amp please


Guys
I'm looking for suggestions on my next upgrade. I'm leaning towards a new pre-amp. Perhaps a VTL 2.5 or maybe a Audio Research unit. I'd prefer to keep the price under $1500 USED.
A friend of mine was kind enough to let me try a Cal Aud Labs Sigma Dac on the O/P of my NAD and I did like the tube effect. It was not a huge improvement IMO but did add a certain bloom and impact on the upper bass and lower midrange. It was this audition that has convinced me to include tubes in my search but I am open to suggestions on both SS and Tubed units.
Ideally the preamp will have remote volume and HT pass as I plan to integrate this into a HT sys. I listen to mostly pop and rock music.

Here is my current 2CH sys.

NAD C542 CD Player
Aragon 8008ST Power Amplifier
Acurus RS-11 Pre-amplifier

Paradigm Reference Studio 100 V3 Loudspeakers
Paradigm Servo 15 V2 Subwoofer
energeezer

Showing 1 response by douglas_schroeder

I concur with the Rogue suggestion; I'm using Rogue Magnum 66 and enjoy it. I found I preferred the sound of the 66 to the Audio Research LS-9 (a solid state unit). You can find a Magnum 66 for about $700. There are two different versions: Line stage (with remote, no phono), and phono (without remote).
An additional nice feature is internally switchable tape output can be made into second main out - nice for biamping. I don't know if this can be done with the Rogue 99.
I have my HT set up similar to Yohjo suggests. Works great.