Whats the best Tube Preamp


How about a vote for the best Tube preamp
lew4
The Joule-Electra LA-100 MKIII is the best all tube line stage money can buy!!
Haven't heard all of the mentioned preamps, but the CAT Ultimate would be very hard to beat. Midrange bloom, dynamics, smoothness, extension, and low noise floor are all areas where it excels. This is, in my opinion one of the very few expensive high end products which I have come across which is really worth its price.
The Thor T-1000 is great (own one). I listened long and hard. Heard many includeing Jadis,CAT, ARC, Audio Note and several very good solid states. When you get into this level of difference though it becomes a personal taste issue.
The best two tube pre-amps are the CJ ART and Premier 16. Miles ahead in a high class system. If you've heard either and not been impressed, then the tubes were worn out.
As Trindle notes, c-j 16ls is tough to beat in any system and at that price point.