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

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.

Einstein's "The Tube" preamp is good but ultimately more colored and more difficult to match with a system. It's presentation is forward (ala B&W speakers), soundstaging is OK but not Ref 3 territory, and it's ability to capture the way live music breaths and expands and changes it's dynamic envelope is replaced with a sense of artifice which imbues a presumed quickness...but it misses the beauty that connects all the notes together. A ref 3 needs proper setup and time in a system to be fully appreciated. One must also appreciate exceptional music and have a great reference point (BSO perhaps)! As for Meridian, owned the G6 and demo'd some of the other reference gear. Meridian reminds me of very good Hi Fi, exciting and flashy but missing the soul of a performance (great home theater stuff..if that's your bag). By the way, the ref 3 needs about 500 hours before it shows it's mustard..and it needs a great power cord, the stock one would take it into average land.