jon wrote:

now i have a few questions that i'm hoping some experienced members
might be able to help me out with: is the peavey tmp-1 considered a
"real" tube preamp like the vmp-2? should i bail on the "real" tube
thing and get a presonus mp20 (with saturation simulation)? how is the
presonus mp20 when it comes to getting that "real" tube sound, despite
the lack of tubes? how about the bellari rp220...is that a "real" tube
preamp? ahhhh!

I haven't seen the TMP-1.

The Bellari is interesting... it has a real front end that really does
have a tube gain stage, but then it has solid state output stuff (and
some pretty awful input transformers). The Bellari sounds like a not
very good tube preamp, whereas stuff like the ART sounds more like a
cartoon of a tube preamp.

I think Groove Tubes is now making a reasonably priced tube preamp.

Mostly, though, you should avoid getting hung up on the whole tube
thing. Go and listen to some preamps and get one that sounds good,
rather than spending your time worrying about what is inside them.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."