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Euphoric Realism vs. Euphonic Romanticism

The 300B amp that I am using has a magical euphoric (not euphonic) realism and I am looking for a linestage and phonostage with the same qualities. The amp is not euphonic, romantic, 'golden', 'vintage,' soft, fuzzy, or veiled. It is immediate, transparent and fast, yet beautiful, 'human,' and emotionally communicative.

I have tried the top models from each of the following maufacturers so there is no need to suggest these:

ARC
Atma-Sphere
Shindo
Hovland
CJ
Supratek
Aesthetix
CTC
Jeff Rowland

The preamp must be tubed and not passive.
exlibris
twc
42 posts
 
Look into a triode corp. trv-4se (limited). I find it to have the qualities you are looking for. These are new to the states.
rja's avatar
rja
2,112 posts
 
Check out the Leben review on 6Moons. Looks promising.
exlibris OP
392 posts
 
Promising indeed.
jmlm
34 posts
 
Herron tubed pre-amp.
exlibris OP
392 posts
 
Anybody heard the Audio Space Reference 2 full-function preamplifier?
It uses 300Bs and is a truly balanced design. Jonathan Valin did a review of it in the August 2007 issue of "The Absolute Sound."

Hear are some quotes:

"the Audio Space Reference 2 sounds in the midrange less like hi-fi and more like the real thing than virtually any other preamp I’ve auditioned."

"Usually when one thinks “300B,” one thinks of a warm, gorgeous, euphonically colored sound, rich in second harmonics. Here the sound is beautiful, of course, but utterly natural—non-colored, non-electronic."
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