Top Ten Tube PreAmp of all time?

Reprince is right. So far as the differences between the SP-10 and SP-11, certainly the 10 euphonized the sound more than the 11 which was more transparent and probably closer to neutral across the board (hybrid). The 10 with all tube power supply has the ability to make more music sound live without any loss of musical information, an ever lovin bloomer. It just pulls you into the music, you really don't care if it's ultimately accurate or not. Interestingly enough I have just done an extended listen with the 10 Mk2 in my system and with an upgrade in caps, wires and resistors it just might hold its own against the top tube pre-amps out there.

Tubegroover: I would not doubt it; my JP80 is a pretty old design as well, and I'm not selling it soon (I heard somewhere it was similar in circuitry to the ARC SP6, but with a much better power supply and point-to-point wiring). A friend of mine redid his SP-10 with silver wiring and had a great-sounding pre (don't know if he still has it). Not a bad product to buy used and try a few upgrades on.

I have owned an ARC SP10Mk2 for many years. It's wonderful, but it could use a bit more clarity. I've thought about upgrading the internal parts, but I would hate to destroy the original voicing, and also the resale value. I know Great Northern Sound Company can do extensive mods, but for the price, I could buy something state of the art used! Do you guys have any suggestions? Thanks.

hi martin,

go to the tech-talk topic & czech out the *believers vs non believers* & the ps-audio threads. yule learn that all electronics sound alike, w/the possible exception of toob-stuff - which sounds distorted, so those of us who like toobs obviously prefer more distortion... ;~)

that said, i defy ewe to find a better-sounding preamp than the melos music-director for ~$2k used. or for *any* price, for that matter... :>)

my opinion, of course! doug s.

Martin, without a price range it's kind of tough to answer your question. There are plenty of suggestions in this thread above. If you listen primarily to classical or jazz, I'd suggest a used Jadis, but that's not cheap, even used; also, among the newer equipment, the Herron line and phono stages are excellent, with a very clean, detailed yet dimensional presentation. But I would not dismiss the thought of having your SP-10 modified by Great Northern Sound or another skilled modifier; I think that you'd find that may bring you a "state of the art" preamp as well. There isn't that much new in preamp circuitry that I've seen which would make your preamp obsolete, and I would expect that upgrades in capacitors, resistors and the like might give you the added clarity you're looking for without necessarily losing the character of the unit that you like. Just my opinion.....