Suggestions for a tube pre and power amp

@lals I am not sure what his current wait time is. My wait time was approximately 3.5 months. Everything he does is handmade and put into queue at the time of order. Also, not sure if you saw but he just released a fully balanced preamp if you desire fully balanced.

I think everyone you ask about RCA vs XLR will give you different answers. I think it really comes down to your components and system synergy. The reduced gain was welcome in my system after I changed DACs which is why I made the change throughout from XLR to RCA.

Some people will tell you that XLR VS RCA only matters on long runs where the increased gain matters. Another aspect would be the elimination of potential ground loop issues by using XLR. So it really comes down to testing in your system and what you prefer, but if you don't have ground loops and don't have runs of 50ft+ I am not sure you would really notice the difference outside of the volume change after switching. You would need to do an A/B volume matched comparison to really know for sure.

@mrsprinkles that's my understanding about balanced vs unbalanced as well.  Some gear may be optimized for one type vs the other. 

All of my preamps over the years have only had unbalanced (NAD 1300, two different conrad-johnson, and my LTA MicroZotl).  My amp has always been close to my preamp, so no need for long cables.

I tried a $200 Audioquest balanced cable between my dac and preamp, but it didn't sound great.  I'm sure it's a result of the cable, not the connection type.  I really like my unbalanced Black Cat Silverstar88 cables (these are impossible to find today).  

If Aric will adjust the impedance on the XLR’s, tailor the Pre to match the Amp, whatever the OP decides on, that’s likely to lead to a magical combo.  That level of access, customization is hard to beat.

@mrsprinkles May be it helps in reducing the noise due to common mode noise cancellation. I am really not sure.

But volume matching between single ended connection and xlr is also little difficult to do. May be if we have couple of friends then can do SPL matching and check the difference. 

I understand it is hand made however wait time of 3.5 months is bit high. I remember Salk speaker when I order also it was something similar wait time. When you hear 3 months of wait time it looks high but in reality time goes very fast.

@mm1tt77 I do agree it is a good thing to get that level of customization from any manufacturer. Impedance and gain match between preamp and power amp is very important.