[RPFMusicman]

Looking to upgrade my existing pre (Auralic Taurus Mk II) very versatile product for what it is. Need a pre to match up w/ Simaudio W-3 poweramp.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome RPFMusicman
I would suggest a tube pre.

[mresseguie]

Hi, Musicman.

FRM and I are biased the same way, so I'd recommend a tube pre as well. Of course, randomly select 10 audiophiles and you might end up with 4 who say, "tubes", 4 who say, "solid state", and 2 who say, "Forget the preamp - use your DAC as a pre."

Actually, I want to ask questions before I answer a question like yours.

I always ask about budget. How much can you spend on a preamp?
New or Used?
Do you want one with a phono pre inside?


There are some amazingly well informed and experienced posters here. You may get a bunch of interesting ideas to pursue.

Enjoy!

Michael

[JCS]

Not sure just what you are after, but you might take a look at:
http://schiit.com/products/freya

I have their Saga & like it very much.  Of course, you would want to think about tube rolling.  My Saga came w/ what I think is a cheap Russian 6N8S tube; replace w/ NOS RCA or whatever.

Cheers,  Jim

[OzarkTom]

Welcome RPFMusicman
I would suggest a tube pre.

+1

[Chris Adams]

The Simaudio W-3 is billed as a neutral sounding amp. This is good as it will show off the character of what's in front of it. I also recommend a tube pre with this amp. The question is which one because they can sound from tubey warm to SS cool. Tubes are a dark hole to go down and I have gone from all SS to all tubes and find myself listening longer and enjoying the time spent more.

[Tyson]

After 20 years on the game I only rec tubes for preamps.

[Phil A]

Welcome - I have two systems with tube preamps and solid state amps

[RPFMusicman]

Thank you to all for the responses. Looks like a balanced tube pre is in order.

Looking at a pre-owned Octave as an option