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What is the single best pre amp you have ever hear

I am not here to sell anything. I am a speaker manufacturer and had the opportunity to show at Capital Audio Fest with David Berning. David is an amazing man whom I respect greatly Even more amazing are his electronics. I heard his ZOTL ZH-30 amplifier and concluded it was the best sounding mid powered amp I have ever heard regardless of price. By best I mean able to play all types of music well. Back to preamps. Some preamps add this or that or sound euphoric or slow the tempo of music. This only shows up as you play other types of music At the show I was totally spoiled by the ZOTL Pre one preamp honesty. I thought it had the best timing and speed of transistor and musicality of tubes of anything I have heard to date. I would have to say it is on my top three list of best sounding preamps regardless of price. It is also the least expensive, nearly half the price of the others. Please before you respond try to have a listen to this extraordinary preamp. Let me know if you agree or disagree Thanks for you opinions Ralph
128x128hi_fi_ralph
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,662 posts
 
The best I have heard so far is our own, but of course I should be expected to say that. I like it because there are no coupling caps at the output, unusual in a tube preamp. This makes it very fast with very deep bass.

Other preamps that I also like a lot:
DeHavilland, ARC REF Anniversary, Aesthetix Signature, CAT and the Lamm. I'm also a big fan of the H/K Citation 1.
onemug
784 posts
 
Conrad Johnson ART is my best so far. Their ACT 2.2 is close.

A big factor in trying to name "a" best is the road that leads from that preamp i.e. amp>speakers>room>ears. I've used these pres with ss,tubes,tripath chip type amps and with Magnepans,med-eff and hi-eff speakers and have enjoyed the outcome every time.
response34's avatar
response34
169 posts
 
Like Atmasphere, I too would have to say our own Purity Audio Design pieces. There are other preamps I do like and dislike which aided in the design of ours.

Preamps I do like include; Shindo, Audio Note as well as some of the new upper end solid state units. There is a lot of good gear out there.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
While I chose ARC, ARC don't got "soul". CJ preamps got "soul", could anyone elaborate on other preamps.
glenfihi
525 posts
 
Conrad Johnson in tube and McIntosh in solid state.
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