Top ten tube preamps

Swampwalker,

I do some of the casework, farm some of it out when it's past the level of my drill press and Greenlee punches. Chrome work is done by a local plating shop that usually does bumpers and exhaust pipes; they were amused when I told them what the plates from my preamp were for.

The 833 will be a true challenge, and I expect it to take the better part of this year to complete. When you're talking thousands of volts the parts are harder to find and a lot more expensive, and every connection must be triple-checked before the ultra high voltage gets anywhere near it. I'm still working out the safety systems to ensure no electrocutions or fires result.

That said, it should be fun!

Samuellaudio- sorry for hijacking your thread.
Ait-

I'm still working out the safety systems to ensure no electrocutions or fires result.

Ah, what's the fun in that? There's a reason they call it "the bleeding edge" ;-)

Manley Neo-Classic 300B preamp

Without a doubt ,wyetech ruby STD in a sound class all by itself , speaking from a guy that has an MBL preamp

I don't know about top ten, but, I have heard good sound from systems using the following:

Emotive Audio Epifania (I own one of these)

Aldo preamp (custom built preamp from a Western Electric rebuilder in Italy-transform inputs and outputs. I also own one of these)

Veloce (I heard a nice system at a show using this preamp)

Audionote (uk) M-10 linestage and phono preamp (you need an extra room to house these monsters with their multiple power supplies)

Audionote (Kondo) M-10 linestage (I auditioned Stax Omega II headphones on a system with this linestage and bought the phones. They have NEVER sounded as good as when played through the Kondo).