Opportunity to buy the best Preamp... but which?


On the tube front... AR Ref3 vs. CJ ART3 vs. VL TL-7.5 vs. Wavac PR-T1?

Or on the SS front... Burmester 808Mk5 vs Dartzeel NHB-18NS vs Krell Evolution2 vs MBL 6010D vs Halcro DM10?

My preference would be a neutral tube based model.

Any opinions?

Andrew
stevecortez
first sound excellent but soundstage is too small..just buy cat ultimate roll tubes to amperex and close your eyes.
hard to beat except AN Kondo or perhaps Jadis...the list is REAL SHORT!!!!!
believe you are seeking the least inaccurate preamp.

only you can determine that by listening. no preamp is perfect. all have flaws which are detectable, given enough audition time.

only you can determine which deviations from neutrality are acceptable to you.
Seven attendances at the CEs, no less than five to each show of Frankfurt, Milano, Paris and London give me enough experience to say what I said, and as i have been from 1995 to 2001 , the owner of one of the largest group that distributes around 20 brands, the best of the best brands, give me some experience, but I need to say that still I have doubts, almost about SS preamps, but not about tube preamps. Now from the freedom and distance to this business I can say what I really want, sorry if my tastes are different, but this is a subjective world, I respect all the opinions and tastes.
I've seen the Connorsiour 4.2SE referred to as one of the best in the world, however there is also a Connosour 5.0 and according to website a 6.0 in the works, both of which are positioned as even higher end products i would think they are very much near the top of the best in the world
I had the AR Ref 3 and the CJ Art 3 and several others but the new Einstein " The Tube" is the most musical of all, hands down. I also have a second system which has Avantgarde Duo's and I use a Meridian 861 pre and just recently added the Meridian 800 cd player after going through about 20 cd combinations over the last 2 years and this was the best combo by far.
I also use my Meridian for a high end Home Theater system as well but when used for 2 channel it is an incredible preamp and I would take it over any of the ones you have mentioned. It is the one piece in my system along with my Duo's that I have never had the urge to replace.