Best solid state pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ??

Can we give this H-Cat thing a rest. Go on vacation or something.
:-)

I know, I sound like a broken record, but those who have paid attention have repeatedly thanked me. I am soon going for a months vacation to Alaska. No H-Cats there.

Why not make it 2 months?
:-)

There has to be a match with the speakers, amp, and source. One man's trash is another man's treasure. So exactly what do you want to purchase this preamp to go along with???? What kind of sound do you want? what kind of music do you listen to??? All important questions before you delve into before even deciding ss is the way to go. Let alone a $10,000 one!

Guys thanks for the very nice and helpfull comments so far. I recently had three pre´s in my system: Jeff Rowland Concerto; Ayre K-1X Evo. and Chapter Audio Preface - the Chapter was by far the best of these three solid state pre´s although he has to be combined with a balanced external phono pre (my favourite is the Clearaudio Basic Synergy). In the next round I´ll compare him to Hovland HP-100 and CAT SL-1 Ultimate. So the quest continues.. But right now in my system the Chapter was by far the best. The Placette might be a great unit but looks awful and its built quality is quite "unusual". Didn´t even put it into my system although a friend borrowed one.