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Best Preamp New or Used up to $3,000 ??

Okay I am listening. The models I am looking at are:
Audible Illusions L3 .$2,000+
Aesthetic Calypso.$2,000+.
Prima Luna Dialogue $2,200
EAR 834L.$1,700.
Benchmark LA4 (New) $2,600.
McIntosh 2500.$4,000 (Over budget but has tone controls and Phono stage)
Other Equipment: Cary MK 120-s, Oppo 205, Older Tannoys FSMs-very efficient.
Music I enjoy: Vocals, 70 db, Near field position.
So if you have owned any of the above, please share your experience.
I am attracted to these brands as they seem to place value on things related to musicality.
Separate quality Power supply, Dual Mono setup, Quality components. Remotes (except EAR)
So what am I not valuing that I should be?
Thanks in advance.

firstnot
rhansen162's avatar
rhansen162
4 posts
 
If you search hard you can find the Mcintosh C50 lightly used (or NOS) at your price point, it has adjustable load MC (and MM) phono and tone controls.  Highly recommended.

there is also a Mcintosh C200 on enay in your price range, for phono stage use only, c100/200 are the bees knees and beat out many other phono preamps 2-3x’s their original retail price!
firstnot's avatar
firstnot OP
115 posts
 
Wow a lot of great suggestions, thank you for the ideas!

Who has an opinion on this?

As I do not have a preamp now I am running the Oppo direct to the Cary
which leads me to another question: Will a good preamp improve or detract from the sound?

Thanks,
Jeff
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
1,457 posts
 
@atmasphere Do your comments on balanced extend to Backert?  I was told those were not just convenience connections.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
@twoleftears
Its a bit hard to sort out from their website how their preamps work, but it appears that the balanced connections use transformers both for input and output.
If that is the case, then it might support the standard. This is because a transformer can have a floating input and a floating output, which is what is needed to support the standard (in particular the floating output). Part of the standard is the ability to drive low impedances, and its not clear from any of the information I've seen online whether that is possible, but a phone call could sort that out.
recluse
35 posts
 
+1 On the oppo 205 direct to cary.

 I listen to CD sacd DVD and blue ray concerts 99% time, classical

I have used both oppo and cary mk120.

The volume control on the oppo can be lowered to 40 without significant bit stripping
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