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3 great tube preamps. Which would you purchase?

Hello,

I’m currently looking at a used VTL TL-5.5 Series II Stereo Tube Preamplifier
Don Sachs 65N7 Preamp (new), and last but not least LTA Microzotl Preamp - new. 

I like Ike the fact that the VTL has balanced outputs. Which the 65N7 and LTA Microzotl lack. 

My current amp - Bel Canto Ref500s. Has the option of XLR or RCA for input. I like the idea of going all balanced with my set up. 

Its not mandatory to have an all balanced system if one preamp lacks xlr outputs. It’s more of what will work best.  It’s a heavy investment for me. Regardless of which one I will purchase. I like to set it and forget it. Upgrading every couple of years is despised as much as clothing shopping. 

Price is not always indicative of quality. All three mentioned are great contenders imo. All fluctuate a bit in pricing. If anyone could chime in, stating which preamp they might prefer would be greatly appreciated. 

It’s a safe assumption all have their own sound signature. I’m looking to round off the class d sound a bit. It’s not overtly bright. Though I’ve heard the tube sound. I know it will be a game changer in conjunction with my current equipment.  Very curious to know what the communities take would be on this post. 

I have a very basic set up.  
MacBook Pro 
Dynaudio Special 40’s
Bel Canto Ref Link
Bel Canto 3.7 Dac
Bel Canto Ref500s / most recent build. 
interconnects, speaker cable, and power cords are holding up well. 

Turntable preamp to be determined in the future. 


My kind regards,

Jay. 


jred

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
Forget about balanced outputs.  If they were meaningful, Don would design his preamp for them, but he feels RCA outputs are perfectly fine.
If you hear balanced line done right, there simply isn't any going back to single-ended. More detail, blacker backgrounds... One advantage of balanced operation is the interconnect cables between the preamp and amp won't be a big deal any more; if you've ever auditioned cables to get the best sounding one in your system you know what I'm talking about. You can also run longer distances as well, but that blacker background benefit is still there even if the connection is only 6 inches.


The thing is, there is a standard for balanced line, which many high end audio manufacturers don't seem to know about. Its called AES48. If you want the benefits of balanced line operation, make sure that you ask the manufacturer if their gear supports AES48.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
@jred You might check and see if any of the balanced preamps support AES48 which is the balanced standard. If they do you will get the benefits of balanced operation- immunity to cables, longer distances possible, lower noise even in short runs and so on. That goes away if the equipment doesn't support the standard, and IME most high end audio does not, although there are tube preamps that do.
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