As a dealer who found one of the best amps and preamps at any price I would say Dave Belles.
I instigated the creation of the first 350=A mono blocks, in A/B comparison listening at my place and customer's homes I had guys trade me for several of the big gun mono block amps, which I would use for a few months for comparison demo work. I took Pass labs XL600's, Krell, Levinsons, Marantz in trade.
Because the amps and preamps were so good I used cables costing more than the equipment. If you would use a $3500 power cord on $20k amps why wouldn't you use a cord like that on an amp that actually outperforms them even though they are only $4000 each? The comparison I did was showing the more expensive amps with the good power cord, then the Belles with the same quality power cord, no contest.
People put too much credence into what something costs.
I instigated the creation of the first 350=A mono blocks, in A/B comparison listening at my place and customer's homes I had guys trade me for several of the big gun mono block amps, which I would use for a few months for comparison demo work. I took Pass labs XL600's, Krell, Levinsons, Marantz in trade.
Because the amps and preamps were so good I used cables costing more than the equipment. If you would use a $3500 power cord on $20k amps why wouldn't you use a cord like that on an amp that actually outperforms them even though they are only $4000 each? The comparison I did was showing the more expensive amps with the good power cord, then the Belles with the same quality power cord, no contest.
People put too much credence into what something costs.