[Pacio]

Sam.....Speakers and source ?

Hey Loner - how are you?
Gear:
Transport:  Pioneer Elite Transport PD S95
Jitter:       Camelot Dragon
DAC:        Scott Nixon - new TD2
Speakers:  Meadowlark Shearwaters with ScanSpeak 9700 tweeters
Cables:     Anticables for speakers and IC, Luminous Allegro for Digital

Thanks Sam....doing....ok.

No remote but tube based....SAS 10A ....check used.
Now normally I'd say Modwright....but you don't want to spend more than $1,000.00....
This would get you close to it....works well with SS....and yes, I've had one here....and some photo's in my Gallery.

And the Candella would be a match as well....you'd have to spend a little more....

                                 Chris

Chris:
A couple of questions:
1: I am not at all familiar with SAS.  are the letters short for something?  Can you elaborate a little on this unit.
2: Modwright - which model and why
3: What about all the posts about the Promitheus Passive? Are you familair with it?
thanks
Sam
PS: Hurry up and answer - I am off to the Montreal show in the morning!!!!

Hello Spirit,
I'm just jumping in the thread without advice and no permission, but you asked feedback about the match Stratos - TVC and I have both!
I am very satisfied with them, obviously both gear need a full break in time (almost 400 hrs each) but once you get it you won't be disappointed. Moreover I just received the active tubed preamp made by Nicholas as well, and something is going to change in the way I listen to my cds..it's still too early since it has too few hours break in, but I think TVC + active buffer will be a very nice combo, even better than the TVC alone.
My 2 cents.
Cheers,
Marco

[lazydays]

here's a Modwright SWL 9.0SE with Bybee filters for $1300:

http://sphl.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/buy_cl.pl?preatube&1181081438

I read on the Polk forum that the Candela was voiced with the mono extremes:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43666

About a month after I got my mono extremes, I took deliverey of a Candela. I promptly put it in my main system, that is pretty much all tubed. It drove the 40 watt tube amp like there was no tomorrow! To be exact I really hated to take the amp out of the system for the monos. I don't know if it was a match made in heaven or anything like that, but seemed to be a great match.
    Last night a friend of my oldest son came over, and asked about my turntable. Then of course he had to hear a record or two. Then the conversation came into those blue Odyssey logos, and I told him how and why I had them. He liked my speakers, and looks like he may be the next owner. But the real gist of the conversation came to those amps and the preamp. Look for him to buy a Kartago and a Candela in the very near future (I'm thinking a few weeks from now). I hate to loose the Meadowlarks, but with the Kartago it should be a very good match. And yes he wants a turntable! Said he never knew records could sound that good (I told him they could easilly sound better yet). Think what turned him to the turntable was a mint copy of Deja Vu followed by a virgin copy of Al Green's stuff. Life is good!
gary

[rollo]

Spirit,
          Sorry to burst your bubble but there is no best Preamp for $1000. What there might be is a preamp which has synergy with your amp.
           For the money Promitheus is offering a TVC and active Pre with 6db of gain. The Pre has a separate tube regulated power supply based on 5Y tube. The Pre itself is transformer output coupled with 6N1P input tubes. Point to point wiring. At $550 delivered to your door for Pre and $450 for TVC.
        If your CDP has an output of 2V or more and the Amp a input sensitivity of 1V or less your in like Flynn. IMO this combo is a bargin and a sonic blessing.

   rollo

[Bob Reynolds]

How about an invisible preamp? Your system won't even know it's there:

http://www.morrisonaudio.com/morrison_preamp.htm

If only it didn't use mono volume controls.

[LadyDog]

Look used.  You can get a very decent preamp that way for your budget.  For example, there is a Manley Shrimp available for just under $1k.  Nice piece.  Haven't looked but I'm sure there are other good deals. 

And yes the Candela appears to be a winner.

Good luck.

[JLM]

Single Power builds tubed headphone amps, but also offers pre-amp options.  Very low noise, very high quality.

But I'd lean towards staying with the house sound as the no-brainer choice.

[zapper7]

I have had the Odyssey amps, and the sound with the BAT Vk3i and Sonic Frontiers Line 1 (both have remote, balanced outs) was great. These can both be had for $1000 or under at Agon from tome to time.
These really worked well with the Odysseys.

[dorokusai]

As mentioned previously, there are alot of great pre-amps <1K. Especially on the used market, probably moreso on the used market in hindsight. One of my favorite sleepers is the Anthem Pre-2L(<500)....throw a couple Sonicaps in the output stage($100) and your done. The tubes are common 6DJ8/6922 and there's a whole gamut of choices with that heater.

Mark