Yeah, I totally agree on the SE but I have functional reasons to use balanced.
How long are your cable runs though? They’d have to be longer than 50 feet before balanced starts to be advantageous.
They run about 10 feet…honestly, heard a lot of different things about the length
In that case I wouldn’t be worried about using single-ended.
The Treasure Globe 6SN7SE GF (Grant Fidelity) available on the PSVANE site.
If you’ll be feeding a (beefy) balanced line out from the RME into the amplifier, +1 to the Liquid Platinum since it’s fully balanced all the way through. The LP also has a buffered SE input so that’s another option. It’s a lot of power even for high-Z dynamic drivers as the 6XX. I never past noon in the volume knob myself, unless I’m dialing the volume digitally.
Good luck!
If you can up your budget a little, a lot of forum members pair their RME DAC with a Phonitor. They appear to have great synergy. The cheapest is a Phonitor E, which is $500 above your budget. It is balanced.
Yeah, I’ve seen that pairing a lot around here. How is the phonitor e vs the older brother I wonder?
If I were to think about getting a phonitor, I’d probably save up more for the x/xe. I’m not a big fan of the phonitor e aesthetics-wise.
I’ve got to be honest, I’d probably get the XE just for the VU meters, even though I don’t know what I’d do with them. 
I was thinking of getting one (for the VU meters) but ended up buying a ZMF Pendant instead to get more of a tube experience.
Anyway, the XE is a lot more than your original budget.
Oh yeah, I’m well aware! lol
But fantasies can be great
DAC around 600-800 USD? Warmer tilt than brighter tilt. Natural over digital sound. Preamp functionality be good.
I was thinking Bifrost 2, but think I do want preamp ability.
Thots?
I’ll add I’m running D8000 Pro and a Auralic Taurus at the moment (though the Taurus needs a new volume pot).
I’d love preamp ability. And some sort of built in USB treatment. My PC seems to output noisy USB
Per my testing and prior posts on this site, I deeply deeply deeply dislike the Clear/789 pairing. As the Clear comes with 3 cables in-box, I’ve been happier using it straight from a phone/tablet with the short travel 3.5mm cable than from the 789 with the XLR cable. For the Clear in particular, the delta/improvement with a dedicated amp can be small.
Sometimes the advantages of moving around with the Clear and a simple, light setup outweigh the benefits of a desktop optimal setup. Most anything with a softened treble will be generally ‘satisfying’ to my ears – a warm SS amp, EQ, or tubes can get you there.
Morning…yes the Focal Clears and the TUBA and LYR 3 are excellent pairings!!
Ans yes both are SE.
If your headphone cables are only balanced thats fine but it precludes you from experiencing SE amps…and a SE cable for most headphones can be found for less than $100 and even less.
I recently made a balanced cable for $40.
Alex
OK, so what’s the worlds fastest production TRUCK? Is the viper-powered Dodge RAM SRT-10 still king of the hill, or has Bugatti introduced a light truck version? I think an AMG truck would sell well, at least in the US.
It appears its the Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged., My F150 with the twin turbo 3.5 is fast enough for my use.
Not sure I have the vocabulary yet… 
…but let me play around with it a bit and I’ll post my thoughts…with the multiple levels of ACN, and the “Wind Noise Resistance” mode I’m still learning a bit.
Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot on this forum. About the 789/Clear. But what’s “wrong” with it?
To me, they sound excellent BUT I may know the reason why I think so. It’s either because:
a) maybe my clears in particular are smoother sounding than other clears (unlikely)
b) I’m just really tolerant with the “dryness” and “clinicalness” of the 789
c) the 789 has been my only main desktop amp so I have nothing else to compare it with…well, I guess that’s not entirely true. Before the 789, I used a chord mojo, rme headphone out, dragonfly red, and fiio q5 for the clears. But I remember still liking the 789 the most with the clear.
Quoting myself, and an exchange with @darrellharwood:
Also see the adjacent discussion with myself, @ProfFalkin, and others. The Clear is super fast and precise. The 789 is super fast and precise. Add these together and one hears a speed/timing profile that no one in production/mastering ever heard. To my ears even mild sources becomes unstable and edgy.
Edit - See this post too: