I had a great Cary Audio SLP98 F1 in front of Sanders and Bel Canto amps for Maggies with great results for years. Cary phono stage on that preamp was excellent as well, and they really worked well together.
I havne’t tried this directly, but based on the ICEpower 250 modules in my amps, and how they sound, I’d suggest some modern Audio Research. They are less analytical than their past, not quite as chocolate/syrupy as CJ, but certainly a little more euphonic to my ears.
If it's any help, these particular class D modules sound a LOT like the Parasound Halo line. If you find a good tube pre for them they'd probably be about the same.
Just give it your best shot. Pay attention to input impedance of your amps- some tube preamps can't handle input impedances much below 30K or so! There are tube preamps that can handle low input impedances in amplifiers with no worries.
A Freya pre-amp used ahead of a Merrill Audio Taranis Class D power amp sounds great to me. The Freya (4-6SN7s) replaced an Opera Reference 50 (dual-6H30/EZ80-rectified) pre-amp. Both pre-amps worked just fine but the sound with the Freya is more refined...detailed but relaxed at the same time.
The Freya is very flexible offering singled ended and balanced inputs and outputs as well as pure passive, JFET buffered, and tube gain output modes. It's very transparent and readily shows differences in tubes and interconnects. It is also being used with a First Watt F7 amp and a Hegel H200 integrated when used as power amp.
What sorts of things related to use with Class D are you wondering about?
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