i really don't want to sound like a TVC apologist - i'm actually not - but i am not rich enough to fiddle with expensive active preamps that clearly winn over TVCs. most of the cheap stuff is not - haven't heard ming-da but i've heard valve preamps that have better reputation than it and TVC rolled over them easily. i bought my EAR s/h, £700 was no brainer for such a good one. so if we speak about economy, what i practise is used actives or either new (promi) or used (bent) TVCs.

true there are  rules to respect in order to make a TVC work correctly, but isn't the same for the actives. i'm the first one to say this - i tried running my 10k amps with 800 ohm active pre and it badly failed (absolutely no bass, no drive).

whatever you match in audio you have to put certain parameters into consideration. why is a TVC an exception?

yes, they don't have a remote, at least not for a peanuts (unless you want bent TAP that has looks and comfort of a million buck preamp).

neither has it my EAR 864 (its new RC version costs close to £4k i think, 868), and many good valve pres i know.

the reason why i have bent TVC is a) it sounds very good, especially for background listening b) it's dirt cheap (425$ inc delivery off audiogon, many thanks to a UK buyer who pulled from the sale so i could grab it) c) sometimes it's a nice feeling to have one component less plugged into AC

that's all, nothing more, nothing less. it's really not a competition to my active preamp.