Good preamp for Bel Canto EVo 200.2?

I have been home demoing the BelCanto amp over the last month on weekends with different preamps and have listened to Cary (great) but the single ended version, VTL 5.5 also good and new version has ballanced inputs I believe. Hovland-ok but not my cup of tea., AudioNote M2 with silver wiring and black gate caps YES YES fabulous!!! Creek passive volume which is what my buddy went with believe it or not for 300 bucks- yes it's that good but I would have gone with the Cary or Audio Note. We also listened to the Joule Electra ok and Mark Levenson (yuck) the creek was better! and I know Belles has a nice pre you should look into or a very safe bet is the Audible Illusion of course- good luck

Steer away from any solid state pre-amp with the EVo 200.2, for the amp needs some good tubes in line to bring the harmonics into the system. It has a tendency to sound very
"sterile" on some systems with solid state components up line.

I would second the Audible Illusions suggestion. I've been using one for 4 years with Bel Canto amps, and am still very pleased. They are available both new and used right here on Audiogon. Mine has been very reliable--but you will need to replace tubes about every 1.5 years.

a relatively warm yet still "airy" set of tubes would probably be best with the Bel Canto. Since units vary according to what tubes you use, i'll leave the exact make / model up to you. After all, hunting / finding is half the fun.... : ) Sean
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I just got this tube preamp about a month ago and use it with the Evo 200.2. Dead quiet preamp and gives the Evo the tube magic.