This is a great tube line-stage preamp from Bel Canto. No phono, just line level. It really does sound fantastic, at least I think so. I just have too way too much stuff.
Sonically I find it to have a character that is tubey without being...too tubey. This is not a vintage "hey that's tubes!" tube preamp that's going to coat everything with a layer of syrupy goodness. Nor is it a clean and clinical detail over musicality solid state preamp. Its somewhere in between. Great tonal characteristics and good detail, while also being transparent in a way that I've not found vintage tube line stages to be.
Other than that, I'll let Bel Canto describe it:
"The SEP2 gain stage is a zero loop-feedback single-ended triode design. This gain stage provides high gain and low noise with very low distortion and low output impedance for load drive. It uses a pair of dual 6DJ8/6922 triodes having long life and ready availability. The output is coupled through a selected Polypropylene film and foil capacitor. The single-ended nature of the SEP2 with its single gain stage leads to an inverting output for all inputs except the loop through function. This means that for non-inverting output at your loudspeakers you will need to invert the loudspeaker connections. Connect the positive (+) power amplifier output to the negative (–) speaker terminal and the negative (–) power amplifier output to the positive (+) speaker terminal to restore correct absolute phase. The SEP2 power supply uses a separate current source driven shunt regulator for each channel’s gain stage. This supply architecture provides the stability and isolation of battery power without the inconvenience and expense. Volume control is accomplished with a precision Crystal 3310 stepped analog attenuator adjusted by a microcontroller. This device provides extremely low noise and distortion coupled with high accuracy"
Note, I do not have the remote for this unit and never had one for it, though it is supposed to be remote-capable. Bel Canto may have a compatible remote, I don't know.
$900.
Sonically I find it to have a character that is tubey without being...too tubey. This is not a vintage "hey that's tubes!" tube preamp that's going to coat everything with a layer of syrupy goodness. Nor is it a clean and clinical detail over musicality solid state preamp. Its somewhere in between. Great tonal characteristics and good detail, while also being transparent in a way that I've not found vintage tube line stages to be.
Other than that, I'll let Bel Canto describe it:
"The SEP2 gain stage is a zero loop-feedback single-ended triode design. This gain stage provides high gain and low noise with very low distortion and low output impedance for load drive. It uses a pair of dual 6DJ8/6922 triodes having long life and ready availability. The output is coupled through a selected Polypropylene film and foil capacitor. The single-ended nature of the SEP2 with its single gain stage leads to an inverting output for all inputs except the loop through function. This means that for non-inverting output at your loudspeakers you will need to invert the loudspeaker connections. Connect the positive (+) power amplifier output to the negative (–) speaker terminal and the negative (–) power amplifier output to the positive (+) speaker terminal to restore correct absolute phase. The SEP2 power supply uses a separate current source driven shunt regulator for each channel’s gain stage. This supply architecture provides the stability and isolation of battery power without the inconvenience and expense. Volume control is accomplished with a precision Crystal 3310 stepped analog attenuator adjusted by a microcontroller. This device provides extremely low noise and distortion coupled with high accuracy"
Note, I do not have the remote for this unit and never had one for it, though it is supposed to be remote-capable. Bel Canto may have a compatible remote, I don't know.
$900.
