PreSonus TubePre V2: Mono Tube Preamp (1/3U)

Compact, affordable and built tough enough for serious gigging, the PreSonus® TubePre V2 one-channel professional tube preamplifier is a great-sounding tool you'll use on a variety of sources, including guitars, basses and microphones. The signal path features one of PreSonus' famed XMAX Class A solid-state preamps, followed by a 12AX7 vacuum-tube stage that's hand-selected and carefully tested for top audio performance. Twist the Drive saturation control to add just the right amount of tube distortion to guitars, basses or mic signals. Go lightly for gentle warmth or go all-out for solid crunch.

A dual-servo (no capacitors) gain stage lets you boost the signal to smoking hot levels without significantly increasing noise. Discrete components and high-voltage operation offer dynamic range and detail not found in other single-channel tube preamps in its class. You also get a high-pass filter, phantom power, polarity reverse and a backlit VU meter.

The TubePre V2 rear panel sports separate unbalanced, ¼-inch instrument and balanced, XLR mic inputs and unbalanced ¼-inch and balanced XLR line outputs. Use it as a straight-up tube preamp or a dynamite direct box (DI) for guitars and basses. It's housed in a rugged case that's small enough to carry almost anywhere - or screw-mount it to a standard rack tray.