There is absolutely a group of Preamps globally that are recognized as the best due to their designs and their ability to have extremely low noise and distortion levels that result in superior musical performance. As I already indicated, all these top Preamps have S/N ratio's over 125 db's. Companies such as Boulder, FM Acoustics, Solutions, and Sim Audio and Luxman have these numbers in common. Since these products are beyond reach for most due to their very high prices, then we have to settle for products we can afford that still perform well, but not on the same level as the top units that cost between $25K and over $100K such as the FM Acoustics 268. For Hegel to design an active Preamp using a feedforward design with a S/N of 132db's is a very rare achievement. You will not find an active Preamp anywhere with a S/N of 132dbs at $15K or below which is why the Hegel P-30 performs like a Tier 1 Preamp.