What is the quietest preamp you've used?

Herrons. Take your pick of model, tubed or ss.

I've had mainly tubed preamps for the past few years including the First Sound, the Rogue, a Joule-Electra LA100 MkIII, CAT.

I wouldn't call the Rogue 99 Magnum "quiet", although it's nice sounding and certainly quieter than the two versions of the 66 I had.

My First Sound Presence Deluxe MkII was indeed quiet.

My current preamp, the single ended, tubed Herron VTSP-1, is the quietest preamp I've ever heard, other than the cutom built ss CTC-Blowtorch. I love my Herron.

Among tubed preamps, I doubt that there is anything much quieter than the First Sound. The ear-to-the-speaker test yields absolutely dead quiet at normal listening levels. There may be solid state units which test quieter, but I doubt that the difference could be sonically significant. Great dynamics and low-level detail out of the First Sound due to its quietness.

The quietest is ALWAYS going to be a passive device. You just can't beat that for transparency. However it has other shortcomings that are generally bettered by active stages.

Enjoy,
Bob

von gaylord active pre-amp on their integrated

Ayre K1-xe, Excellent solid state pre!