The vast majority of Audiophiles donot know what’s inside or the parts quality,did you know on average only 25% of your amp,or preamp cost $ is all that goes into your commercial brand ? The rest overhead and markup , that's why many have their equipment modded .that's how Dan Modwright made it popular.
for tube Gear I have used Radu Tarta one of the best Vacuum tube experts in North America hand built and with Premium parts throughout that is the difference ,and with or without remote which for a top quality resistive remote $400 ,not like most using a cheap $25 Alps volume pot,big loss of fine detail,and transformers and chokes are the key ,Lundahl,and Monolith ,much better precision then lesser capacitor based output stage . In this case built one at a time and 70%of the cost go into the parts ,in name brands it’s just the opposite 30% or less
I have found this out years ago , He Builds low power SET amplifiers, and DHT Tube preamps, only 1 gain stage which is the purist.most have multiple stages.
for tube Gear I have used Radu Tarta one of the best Vacuum tube experts in North America hand built and with Premium parts throughout that is the difference ,and with or without remote which for a top quality resistive remote $400 ,not like most using a cheap $25 Alps volume pot,big loss of fine detail,and transformers and chokes are the key ,Lundahl,and Monolith ,much better precision then lesser capacitor based output stage . In this case built one at a time and 70%of the cost go into the parts ,in name brands it’s just the opposite 30% or less
I have found this out years ago , He Builds low power SET amplifiers, and DHT Tube preamps, only 1 gain stage which is the purist.most have multiple stages.