best preamp ever - cost is no object

My take on the "sound" of different manufacturered tubes, whether NOS or current production is that each brand has a "house" sound. For example, the famous NOS Mullard Square getter, 1959 ECC83, known for it's amazing musicality( especially in the midrange) and warmth might be a little too warm in some circuits. I prefer in my 1959 Pilot 402 receiver( bedroom system) an early 60's Siemens double post ECC83, only because it is a little more neutral with better extensions and it seems to compliment the Siemens E84L power tubes. Yet in my VAC Monoblocks, I am using an inexpensive($6.00) stock Philips 12au7aw( 1989) tube because it sounds the best as the driver tube for my current production Chinese-made Shuguang KT88-98 power tubes, which are an amazing power tube. The Shuguang company has come up with a marvelous power tube with this new KT88-98. And they're priced very reasonably as well. I've read that the solid plate version might be better in some respects) Perhaps tube-rolling can be associated with fine-tuning the tone, but there is much more than that taking place. As a musician, besides tone, which is very critical, I look for timbre, proper soundstage, imaging, extended yet refined and delicate highs, natural midranges( palpable voices, accurate portrayal of a well-miked piano) and midbass and subterranean bass that is accurate without being bloated. I have listened to a number of excellently tested preamp tubes that have a difficult time in portraying accurate and realistic bass. Of course, I could always get a fancy equalizer like Carlos to "force" that bass to be accurate. But, in my humble opinion, any equalizer in the circuit, as Rhyno mentioned, will in some way affect the signal to degrade the purity of the recorded sound. I suppose it's a matter of trade-offs, but I'd rather fine tune my room acoustics without the use of an in-line equalizer. Any true red-blooded audiophile has my blessings in finding the right tube to roll if he pleases. Fortunately, the designer of my VAC amp, Kevin Hayes, is not only a brilliant engineer, but has a very good ear as well and his factory tubes are "voiced" perfectly to suit my discerning ears. I had to learn the hard way with Mucho $$$ in tube rolling.

Ryan,
Where did I mention a graphic equalizer? I have never own a graphic EQ but that is exactly what a Cello Palette is; try to tell Tom Jung of DMP, Shawn Murphy of Hollywood/movie scoring fame, Mrs. Wilma Kozart of Mercury Living Presence fame that their $25K Cello Audio Palettes are a piece of junk! It is used in many of the recordings that you use to evaluate system as a "reviewer".

I hate to say it but I think that you have clearly over-stepped your area of expertise and are quickly getting yourself in trouble when you try to discuss electronic circuit design and mastering studio gear with me. Don't say I didn't warn you as I'm known to be ruthless.

Norm,
Look it up at Texas A&M University, College Station as I earned a degree in physics and a separate degree in Electrical Engineering there. I know that you are retired now but perhaps you still know someone there who has access to the records at the register's office.

I know about John Tucker the ex-NASA engineer.

By the way Norm, let me shake your memory a little bit. You actually listen and favorable commented on my Seamless Interface Electro-Acoustiques Big Dog TVC (Transformer Volume Control) about five years ago. We had a brief chat on how we both thought highly of the Victor Goldstein's Fanfare Fi Millennium Siltech/Plinius preamplifier and how we both thought that the Tecnik Avant Garde (TAG) Model One was the best solid state preamplifier we both had heard. Look at the pictures under my system here on Audiogon and you'll see that I still have mine and it has been upgraded to Ultimate level.

Does that jar your memory?

My work for NASA can be documented and pictures of my diplomas for degrees in Physics and a separate one for Electrical Engineering can be furnished if you wish. I'm neither ignorant nor do I have anything to hide.

I think this discussion is entertaining and that's about it!
When it comes to audio there is never a best of anything. It's
just a matter of opinion.

carlos, again thanks for the invite. but first off, i am unavail this weekend, and 2ndly, i need to know exactly what you changed in the past 3yrs or so since last i visited. while i am happy you were / are so enamored of your rig, it was a sound i was none too fond of at the time, and i hate to waste another few hours of my time to listen to systems that suit me not.

further, do you realize that your statements are akin to state that you & you alone know the truth? that all collective wisdom is simply passing fancy and fraud? certainly it has been proven false in the past by geniuses such as galileo, einstein, et al---but these were denizens who dedicated their lives to advancing the sciences they work in every moment of the day.

in contrast, you are an audiophile, and a physics & engineering degree from texas A&M is not something by which makes you an exclusive authority on circuit layout, power supply design, parts voicing et al (i know experts in all these capacities, and none are experts in all 3---see principles on division of labor and accepting one's limitations as one can not know all there is to know. period.). now, had you a litany of audio products you manufactured (i.e. the better mousetrap, see vlad lamm) by which your opinions were formed and hence found acceptance in the market, then your opinion would be validated. until then, your opinion is just that.

and whether i like the sound in your system, or i didn't, wouldn't change that one bit.

we are all in pursuit of our own mona lisa. and you don't know how anyone else likes their ladies.