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Most Quiet TUBE Preamp. Linestage. $ 12K or less

Hello gentlemen.
I am on the market now for an all TUBE preamp. Linestage only. My budget is $12K new or used. A main criteria is this tube preamp must be "Noiseless".

My main beef with tube preamps in the past is the Noise. I want dead silence. No HUM, No Buzz just dead silence.You can literally put your ear to the chasis and hear nothing.

Is there such an all Tube preamp that is Dead Silent ?

THANK YOU.
Joe
joefama
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I've never personally heard such a beast, but I believe the ARC Ref 3 is touted as being as quiet as you desire.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Joefama, Most everything, especially tube products, has some floor noise and whether you hear it or not depends on 1)speaker efficiency, 2)amp input sensitivity, and 3)pre-amp output gain, and pretty much in that order. I am unaware of any tube pre-amp which is 'always' going to be 'dead quiet' under any circumstances.

Good luck in your search.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Paul Bolin wrote the following about the Ref 3 in The Decmber 2006 issue of Stereophile:

The first time I turned it on and unmuted its CD input, I ran the volume control up about halfway and heard nothing...utter silence. I cranked the thing wide open. Again...total, textureless silence at my listening seat. Only when I got within a foot or so of the tweeter of my Wilson Audio Maxx 2 loudspeakers did I hear a very faint, strinkingly fine grained hiss.

The Maxx 2 are 92 db loudspeakers...pretty sensitive.

As Newbee says, no tube preamp is going to stand up to the ear-to-the-tweeter test. That's simply an unrealistic expectation.
goldorak's avatar
goldorak
89 posts
 
I had a BAT VK-51SE and heard no noise at all through 94 dB Tannoys.
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