A preamp recommendation

I’ll look into Bryston BP26, but I’ve found past Bryston components on the sterile side, but it’s been decades.

Bryston’s “sound” has evolved quite a bit over the years, and while I agree their older amps were a bit thin and sterile sounding I wouldn’t characterize their later offerings that way. As far as their preamps, I’d not call them sterile but rather neutral and very transparent. If the BP26 is fed something warm it’ll simply pass that on and likewise with something sterile. While it won’t add anything of its own to the sonic signature, its complete lack of noise or any kind of veil whatsoever lends a sense of openness and clarity that results in excellent imaging and a vast and unfettered 3D soundstage if it’s in the recording. It was my understanding these were the characteristics that are important to you and hence my recommendation.

As far as the tube preamps, I’ve not heard any of them but from the reviews I’ve read they are among the least colored or veiled tube preamps available, which is again why I thought they’d be good recommendations and I’d encourage you to read their respective reviews if you haven’t already (BTW I’d also recommend the Atmasphere MP3 but since your budget allows for the MP1 I mentioned it instead and maybe @atmasphere can elaborate on their differences as well as the bass concerns you have from reading the MP1 reviews). Anyway, hope this helps and FWIW.

@dracule1 The CODA 07x is warmer than the Benchmark LA4. That warmth to me seems like color. My new tube headphone amp, RAAL VM-1a, is so good that I decided to make some drastic changes today.

I also decided to get the new KEF LS60 (baby Blades) so my Benchmark LA4 and AHB2 are going to be orphaned in the Livingroom.

I will be putting up FOR SALE ads for the following::

- 1 year old CODA 07x preamp with 4 year transferable warranty

- Benchmark AHB2

- Audience FrontRow speaker cables with SPEAKON amp end termination (length suitable for monos).

My office system will be

- Benchmark LA4 preamp (sterile like I like it 😀)

- KRELL DUO 175XD a warm amp

- RAAL VM-1a headphone amp (7 tubes in this work of art)

The reason I had the CODA 07x was because it was the very best preamp for my bright RAAL SR1a headphones. It also is great with my Thiel CS3.7 speakers and all the amps I had with it, A CODA #8, KRELL 175XD, Benchmark AHB2 monos, Parasound A21+, D-Sonic Class D, LSA Voyager GAN 300, and NAD M22 V2 (maybe not so much with the NAD).

The CODA 07x also has dual XLR output that I leveraged for my headphone and 2-channel speakers. However, I like the orphaned sterile LA4 preamp more than the warmer CODA 07x and I love the tube VM-1a over the CODA 07x on the headphones. So no need for the CODA 07x anymore.

Thanks Soix, I’ll look into the Bryston and see if a dealer would willing to do a home audition.

yyzsantabarbara, appreciate the detailed explanation of your set up and taste.

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