Is there a killer preamp for 1500?

"The Cary SLP-98 interests me quite a bit", you say.

Well, you've had 2 or 3 recommendations for that one (one was mine). That's how I ended up with my SLP-98--considering every used preamp under $2500; VTL, ARC, C-J, etc, but when I posted about my search, I'd always get a few recommendations for the SLP-98.

One other nice thing about it--it's gorgeous. I have the black with the Jaguar Red chassis. I got real interested in Cary after buying a 303-200 CDP; another great looking/sounding component.

You've received a number of recommendations for worthy products, I'll add one more. If you like a very quiet, neutral, and extremely transparent preamp, the Italian Aloia PST 11.01 can be found for substantial markdowns on the used market. It lists for around $4000 and can be had used for 1k to 1.5k. It's build quality is superb, like a fine swiss watch. Martin Dewulf reviewed it in "Bound for Sound" and found it a little lean for his tastes in his system, HiFi Guide (Italian audio mag) called it "a window into the state of the art." I've been very impressed with mine, a great bargain. None of my partnered components are of a lean and treble emphasizing nature, I don't find the Aloia lean in the least. I also enjoy it's remote volume and switching capability.

Hi there,

I would highly recommend a Blue Circle BC-3 if you can find a used one. They don't have remotes, are really big and heavy but they sound wonderful. My partner plays piano and bass and feels that the preamp with Siemans tubes has perfect pitch. They usually go for around 1300-1500. Also, they have a nice smooth top-end that is very well extended, good detail and they also extend well in the bass. Only limitation is a lack of bass detail compared to really good ss preamps. Also, they have tons of drive. I would add that to your list.

Thanks for all the thoughtful suggestions. It's going to be a tough decision.

Can anyone tell me how the Cary SLP-94 sounds compared to the SLP-98? They use different tubes, so I assume they're different animals.

They are different animals but you'd be surprised how similar they sound. Cary seems to do a great job maintaining their house sound and both are evident in the SLP-94 and 98. IMO the SLP-98 gives you more flexibility to tailor the sound with 6SN7 tubes and their variants, as well as bit more extension. Of course if you go the F1 or direct coupled route with the SLP-98 you would be deviating from the original design path and sound.

Bear in mind that Dennis Had got a lot of mileage out of his SLP-50 design (even using it as the basis to design the NEW P-3 which was an private labeled Cary product I used to own). Also, consider the AES preamp that uses 6SN7 tubes is sort of a cross between the SLP-50 and SLP-98. In a sense all of the Cary tube preamps, with the possible exception of the SLP-05, share some lineage.