Best tube preamp ever

The Schiit Freya I own is an amazingly great sounding preamp, has features no other preamp has (switching between passive, FET, and tubes even remotely, and a sophisticated and accurate attenuator), includes plenty of balanced and single ended inputs and outputs, and is embarrassingly (to other gear manufacturers) inexpensive for a USA made product. The best? Of course! Does it belong in the "speaker" category? Of course not.

If you are looking for best pre amp with no cost barrier.

I recommend this

http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/refpre.html

It use exquisite NOS tube hard to get.

The sound is transparent and mesmerizing with Jazz Vocal.

If you visit Munich Audio show, then you can listen to it.

There is no one “best.” That is dependent upon associated components and personal preference.

Lamm, VTL, ARC, Atma-Sphere, CAT, Einstein and Aesthetix all make tube preamps that compete at the top level.

I recently bought the Doge 8 Clarity (2019 Edition) preamp. It is a very comprehensive preamp with 5 line level inputs, MM/MC phono, tape/headphone out, 2 volume-controlled outputs, and a high-quality metal remote control. It is RCA only - no balanced inputs or outputs.

Once I installed outstanding 12AT7s into the line stage (I chose 1982 Siemens ECC801S tubes, but the other highly recommended alternative is new Russian copy Genalex Gold Lion B579 tubes), and gave the preamp 300+ hours of (absolutely essential) burn-in time, I've ended up with a line-level preamp which is phenomenal, at a price which is absurdly low, given this preamp's spectacular transparency and build quality. 

My holographic JLTi power amp can be switched to be an integrated amp, so it is possible for me to evaluate the Doge against almost no preamp at all! The difference in realism between running the JLTi on its own as an integrated, or adding the Doge in line to the JLTi, is remarkably small. This is one hell of a line level preamp, and that's before I've even considered its MC phono stage (I already have a superb MM/MC phono preamp).

It may not be the world's ABSOLUTE BEST preamp, but it is the best line preamp I have EVER heard at any price! It is only available direct from the Doge factory in China. Price INCLUDING shipping to most countries is US$1495!