Need help selecting preamp for Accustat speakers

[Jen17]

Hi, I'm still learning about high end audio. I've got 8 foot Accustat speakers, an Eagle 2 amplifier and need help figuring out which preamp (or receiver or integrated amp) to purchase. The speakers are obviously very large electrostat speakers that tend to be a little bright sounding. I've been told a tube preamp might pair nicely. I would prefer not to spend over $900. I'd like the processor (whatever it is) to be able to handle higher resolution music formats (like SACD), to have a phono input, and to have a headphone input. Any ideas??? Emotiva RSP-1, Parasound Halo P3, and Outlaw 990 are a few I've been reading about... Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[davidtwotrees]

Your budget is $900. I'm not sure, but I don't think you can get a Parasound Halo preamp for that price?!
Emotiva and Outlaw are excellent bang for the buck Chinese electronics. At this time no one in the world seems to be competing with them price wise.

You sound music oriented......do you need all the bells and whilstles of the receivers out today...hdmi, ability to decode the NEWest formats?, video swithcing?

I use an Audio Refinement prepro (YBA's second line). It is 5.1, does sacd dvda, has a pass thru option, is easy to use, and also works just fine for movies....it is very minimalist. They can be had used on Videogon for under $500............

 

[Jen17]

preamp needs

Thanks for your reply. No I really don't need all the bells and whistles. I don't plan to connect the system to a tv-- it'll be for music only. I'd like it to handle SACD and possible HDCD, have phono and headphone inputs, and that's about it. I can get the Halo 3 for $799-- do you think this is the best option? I want to make sure the preamp is a little on the warm side to round out my speakers. Thanks, Jen