Top Ten Tube PreAmp of all time?

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.....

rcprince is rite - if ya like the basic tonal character of yer current pre, then a parts upgrade may put ya in fat-city... ;~)

good luck, doug s.

Hello Ferrari,
Jadis JP80 to draw me into the music, as once the all tube, two chassis Beverdige did in the seventies. JP 200 balanced with the Aesthetix IO phonostage in front has given me the most musical, dynamic and deadquiet vinyl rendering, which I've heard on my stators so far. Might fiddle around with tubes in the future, but doubt if I'll ever change this vinyl setup again.

Hey Detlof, I gather the I/O has broken in, or was it the cables that were the problem when you first started listening (I remember your posts on the Jadis Fidelity thread)? You still feel the I/O is a little colder?

Greetings, Rcprince! I commend you on your mnestic powers.
Yes its all broken in, except for my ears. I am still of two minds. I find the IO much quieter with a wider and deeper soundstage and a tad better separation between indiviual instruments. Probably, I must grudgingly admit, that its also more neutral. But I love that tad of euphonic coloration in the Jadis' mids, I love that bloom of individual instruments, that sonic aura, the JP80 can place around the sound of a solo violin and above all the holographic rendering of voices. The 200 does this even more than the JP 80. They are sonically very similar, only the 200 has a punch, which I never thought possible from a preamp. So I've found the Aesthetix/Jadis 200Bal a very happy marriage. However so far I mainly listen to chamber music through this combination. For big classical stuff or opera I have myself a Jadis fest with the JP80 as the RHIAA phono part through the 200's. Unfortunatedly the latter are only on loan so far, so if I suddenly disappear from Audiogon, I will probably have been caught robbing a bank in order to keep those four chassis marvels.