inburrito, your statement,
I really liked that preamp because of its clarity, even-handed treatment of all frequencies and touch of fullness which, in combo, made it very musical and enjoyable to listen to. It is absolutely quiet which would be a nice feature with today's high resolution digital sources. For a number of years I kept going back to them and I actually owned four of them at different times. I have owned over 20 relatively high quality preamps in the $4-10K range (including many with tubes) and would put the TE Vibe with Pulse in the top three. IMO, it really does nothing wrong. I would call the soundstage "tidy" instead of expansive, but I was fine with that. Another issue some might have, in comparison to the best preamps in the range, it was not the most dynamic pre I have owned, but it was always very musical and well-balanced. It was amazing to me that TE was able to accomplish such a nice sounding preamp using op amps which, in general, I have found to flatten the sound and reduce micro-dynamics vs. using discrete circuits. I do not notice this with the Vibe. I would never say it sounds like a tubed preamp, but I would say I liked it better than several highly rated tubed preamps.
As far as a purchase, it seems things have improved somewhat in that there is a larger USA dealer network than I ever remember. SORAsound and Sound by Singer are listed as Dealers, but no USA "distributor" is listed. If you go to the TEAD USA website, more dealers are listed. If you go to the TEAD UK website, the company appears to be more active than in the recent past, with new products in design or production and even an upgrade offered to the Vibe.
Let us know what you end up with.
Tom Evans Vibe, was the best preamp I have hadmakes me wonder, why look at anything else? There is the latest model Vibe-Lithos 7 and Pulse II for sale right now and I know they are excellent, because I used to own them (but have no affiliation with the current seller).
I really liked that preamp because of its clarity, even-handed treatment of all frequencies and touch of fullness which, in combo, made it very musical and enjoyable to listen to. It is absolutely quiet which would be a nice feature with today's high resolution digital sources. For a number of years I kept going back to them and I actually owned four of them at different times. I have owned over 20 relatively high quality preamps in the $4-10K range (including many with tubes) and would put the TE Vibe with Pulse in the top three. IMO, it really does nothing wrong. I would call the soundstage "tidy" instead of expansive, but I was fine with that. Another issue some might have, in comparison to the best preamps in the range, it was not the most dynamic pre I have owned, but it was always very musical and well-balanced. It was amazing to me that TE was able to accomplish such a nice sounding preamp using op amps which, in general, I have found to flatten the sound and reduce micro-dynamics vs. using discrete circuits. I do not notice this with the Vibe. I would never say it sounds like a tubed preamp, but I would say I liked it better than several highly rated tubed preamps.
As far as a purchase, it seems things have improved somewhat in that there is a larger USA dealer network than I ever remember. SORAsound and Sound by Singer are listed as Dealers, but no USA "distributor" is listed. If you go to the TEAD USA website, more dealers are listed. If you go to the TEAD UK website, the company appears to be more active than in the recent past, with new products in design or production and even an upgrade offered to the Vibe.
Let us know what you end up with.