Which would you choose for good sounding tube preamp for an audiophile new to tubes.

I used to have a B&K 2220 (and other B&Ks) that I ran with a 1990s Conrad Johnson preamp and a newer Jolida tube preamp and it sounded great with both I thought, but the newer Jolida was better and they are pretty cheap. I also ran a Classe' solid state preamp with it and I preferred the tube preamps with the B&K amps. I grew up with B&K power amps, I really like them.

I thought the music sounded 'fuller' with a tube preamp and it slams just as hard but more musically, imo. I like the tube preamp SS power amp setup. Good luck! 

The impedance mismatch between a tube preamp and solid state preamp can be very real. If you look closely at all the audio research tube preamps for example they usually don't match well with solid state amplifiers regarding minimum input impedance. For that reason on a whim I tried the PS audio BHK preamp which has a robust low impedance solid state output and a tube input stage and I'm really happy with that choice. I think this preamp is out of your price range but I would be hesitant to match a tube preamp with a solid state amplifier unless you met the impedance specifications of both components.

The reason I say Quicksilver is because their stuff is all point to point wired.

Not the LINESTAGE preamp.

Mike

Sorry, their amps are all P2P.   Still a good pre.  

Sorry, their amps are all P2P.   Still a good pre.  

I agree! I have the Silver Sixty mono blocks 20 years.

Mike