best preamp ever - cost is no object

Mrtennis: sorry I have to disagree. There are some very special products that are in a legue of its own (soundwise, build quality wise, etc.). Especially the Boulder 2000 series products together with the big FM Acoustics and the DartZeel represent the best money can buy in the solid state amplification field.
Micro Seiki, Walker, Rockport or Goldmund Reference are quite peerless in the field of state-of-the art analogue playback.
It´s like in sports: there is just one John McEnroe, just one Roger Federer etc and many Accuphase, Levinsons which are good/ very good but not state-of-the-art.

i will take your example of tennis first, frankpiet.

roger federer is not the best vollyer in tennis. he doesn't have the fastets serve. he has won more slams than anyone else and he is a wonderful athlete. i think john mcenroe in his prime would have beaten roger federer on the faster grass at wimbledon during the 80's. the point is how do you define the best tennis player ??

back to audio, there is build quality and there is performance, i.e., sound. there is no bets sound. once you define "best" i can offer another definition. it is subjective. i prefer beauty over truth, so i think a somewhat colored sound is better than a more neutral sound.

how can you argue a philosophical question that has no answer. the idea of best is a philosophical concept it cannot be based entirely on facts.

I've read this thread pretty closely and I am surprised I haven't seen these 3 preamps listed, well almost.one is listed but before Albert Porter helped take it to the next level.

I haven't heard them but they are on my short list of components I will make sure I hear before making a decision.

Aesthetix Callisto
Nick Doshi's Alaap
& Raul's Essential 3150

I think it was W.C. Fields who said I wish I was in Philidelphia !

So the Beat goes On.

Best regards

Groovey Records

Listening to

Get your Ya-Yas Out -The Rolling Stones- French Decca FFrr Pressing 278 023

Every pre-amp does have its own character no matter how minor it is. Here's my rankings:

On the SS side #1. CTC Blowtorch #2. Lyra Connoisseur 4-2 SE, #3 Boulder 2010.

Now on the tube side:
#1 VTL 7,5. #2 Aesthetix Io Sig MKII with volume controls and additional high input via XLR or RCA. #3 the beautiful Wyetech Opal. #4 Wavestream pre-amp sounds like it got everything right.With phonos in all I could live with several of these. #5 CJ ART-2

My second SS tier is the #1 Daartzeel, #2 ASR Emmitters (intergrated) ans the #3 Boulder 2010 as great SS pre-amps. #4 EMM/DAC

Second tier Tube pre-amp are: #1, ARC Ref 3 mk??, #2, Conrad- Johnson ART-2,

Special considerations: Manley Steelhead MK II, Dood pre-amp, Graaf pre-amps

You really could do well wsith these.

cheers, GerryM5

Coming back to the initial question: Dynaudio Arbiter is a very very special pre-amp to. Made to order only, very expensive and very flexible. The afore mentionned ASR is a very nice product but funny wise its reputation in the US is much higher than in Germany the land of its origin. To me its to slow and to warm in sound (but thats a matter of taste) and detail retrieval and transparency is a lot better with VTL, Ayon, Boulder or FM Acoustics gear.

Mr. Tennis: would be interesting to know how good old Mac would have played his 1984 Wimbledon final against current Roger Federer - would have been a very close call - but then you have to consider Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg as well..