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
Atmasphere

I think I have tried as many pre amps I could get my hand's on, especially living in Sydney and after 3 years of trying and wasting money, time to settle down
Unfortunately one cannot try everything, especially downunder. Remote is a must for me, and Aesthetix has only recently included remote control, einstein from all reports sounds too lean for my tastes.
I have not had any luck with your distributor in WA, as he does not want to demo anything out of WA and has no dealers in Sydney.
I liked the sound of the cj prem16 when I had it so bought a s/h ART. Sounds wonderful and I am off the pre amp merry go round - for pre amps at least :)
Downunder, I get that. It seems that your situation illustrates the issue that, if there *is* a 'best' preamp, it would be almost impossible to find it, for no other reason than its almost impossible to get your hands on all the possibilities for audition!

I've been told that our distributor in WA is no longer in business; his website is still up but he does not respond to email.
Atmasphere

That is a pity your distributor is no longer around - unfortunately not surprising. Good luck with finding a new importer. Melb, Sydney or brisbane would be better for all audiophiles.

You guys in the US and Europe don't know how lucky you have it :-)

yes, so for what i have heard the ART is the best and most musical.

cheers
Dear Atmasphere
Do you support home demos for your audio equipment?
I'd love to listen your top preamp!

George
Hi George, we do have a demo program. Give us a call for details 651-690-2246