Best Full-Function Preamplifier

dodgealum Look up Radu Tarta  he is considered one of the very best Vacuum tube engineers in North America  40 years in the trade.he builds only no compromise  DHT Preamplifiers  most name brands as I stated many times being a ex audio dealer only 25% goes into the electronics ,the rest R&D overhead and markup  with these custom 

builds it’s like building a Bentley to whatever standard of parts quality  you want .  My friend has one of his deluxe 2 box DHT preamps  for sale like New ,retail this would be well over $15k only 2 years old Like New.

A no compromise solution demands separates. For $20k (I assume USD) you could go Pass Labs XP22 line stage preamp and XP17 phono stage

Jeffrey125,

how can you recommend the SIM audio 761 when it's not even out yet and you haven't even heard it?

You say "full function" but does that include a tape monitor? That is going to narrow your choices considerably. Even if you don't have a tape deck a tape loop is very useful if you have any sort of processor or might in the future.

The other thing is how important your vinyl rig is to you. If you have a nice turntable and cartridge and you've got a $20K budget it would make sense to get a separate phono stage and spend a little less on the preamp. There are incredible bargains on used Pass preamps and there are lots of used high quality phono stages as well. You could have a killer rig if you could stomach separates.

 I'm a vintage guy, the result of my Uncle's involvement, I guess. I happen to like my ancient SAE 2100L (I have the add on EQ and Parametric boxes all standing by and ready to go back in the game). I had everything recapped, cleaned, and tested about 10 yrs ago by retired SAE Tech. Now it's time to go record shopping.

I know,, as usual, of absolutely no help at all  🙄