Go to their website & check out the Norh ACA-2B tube preamp. It uses two 6DJ8 tubes and operates in pure Class A. I have had a few of the budget preamps mentioned above (like the AES) but the Norh performs far above its retail price. I owned one a year ago and regretably sold it. After the buyer received it he said that he was very sorry that I had to sell it. He also stated that it beat every preamp he owned prior, like Audio Research and Conrad Johnson but he didn't mention which model numbers.
I finally picked up another used one on Audiogon (very rarely seen for sale) a couple of weeks ago and it feels darn good to have such a outstanding peformer placed back in my system and it is connected to a solid state amp with very good results. The ACA-2B retails for $299.99 but the shipping is $181.00 from Taiwan. It does not have home theater pass through but after you hear it you will soon get past that problem.
I finally picked up another used one on Audiogon (very rarely seen for sale) a couple of weeks ago and it feels darn good to have such a outstanding peformer placed back in my system and it is connected to a solid state amp with very good results. The ACA-2B retails for $299.99 but the shipping is $181.00 from Taiwan. It does not have home theater pass through but after you hear it you will soon get past that problem.