[SteveFord]

I had some time today so put some prices with the suggestions.
If any of these prices have changed or you can help with the out of production ones, that would be great.

Aesthetix Calypso Signature  $10,143
Atma-Sphere MP-1 $12,500/$14,990 w/ phono
Audible Illusions 3A  $1895 (1996)
Audio Note M3 $6000/7500 w/ phono (2003)
Audio Research LS27  $7000
Audio Resarch REF 40 $25,000
Audio Research Ref 5  $12,000
Audio Valve Conductor  $14,000
Burmester, all  $16,000 (2005)
Conrad johnson Art 3  $25,000
Counterpoint $600 - $4,000 (out of production)
darTZeel  $23,250 (2007)
Decware SE84C (actually an amplifier)
DIYHifiSupply Tram II OTL $1395 kit/$1645 assembled $300 tubes
Eastern Electric Minimax  $1,100
eva-2  $299 kit
Klyne $3250 (?)
Luxman, all
Manley 300B  $5,500
MBL 5011  $8,382
McIntosh C500  $12,500
McCormack DNA 500 (amplifier)
Melos  $1600 (1998)
MFA Venusian (?)
Modwright LS 100  $3,495
NAT Audio Symmetrical  $7,600
Precision Fidelity  $2,000-3,000 (?)
Purity Audio Silver Statement  $14,995
SAS Labs 7A  $459 kit
SAS Labs 10A  $1,595 - $1,795
SAS Labs 11A  $2,849 - $3,049
Supratek Cabernet Dual  $8000
Sun 300B  $4,226
TVC $600 - $1,200 kit add $150 assembled
VAC Ref Sig MkII  $15,000
Vitus Audio  $30,000 (2004)
Warpspeed Optocoupler $155 kit

[Diamond Dog]

Wow... not long ago we were all bitching about the Manley price increase but after seeing Steve's list, I'm thinking my 300B is the bargain of the century! Gotta love that. And I do!   

D.D.

[SteveFord]

In reading the reviews on the preamps on the list, much is made of midrange lushness, extended bass, treble extension, the usual suspects.

My question may not be possible to answer as a system all works together but here it is, anyways:

I demo gear with Frank Zappa's Apostrophe and the guitar solos in Nanook Rubs It should sound like razor blades as he recorded that with all treble, no bass on his SG's bridge pick up.

From this list, which pre amps will have that 3D effect (vocals come out of nowhere from up high, way back, wherever), strong dynamics AND reproduce that guitar work without damping it down?

[seadogs1]

I would like to add the Supratek Cabernet Dual to the list.

[jimdgoulding]

Ani DiFranco's Up, up, up, up, up is pretty interesting for the demo purposes, too.

[spab]

As an owner of both the 10A and 11A, I can chime in about the SAS preamps. I have also owned a few other active preamps and, in addition, several passive preamps. My immediate impression when I got the 10A was how close it sounded to a passive preamp in terms of sheer transparency. And, yet, at the same time, it had the body and magic of tubes, and the drive of an active. Eventually, I got the 11A, and the main difference I could detect was image density. All the qualities of the 10A were there, yet with no loss in transparency the 11A images were denser. I have also tested the 11A in terms of comparing the sound from my excellent cd source directly to amps versus inserting the 11A pre between. I could detect no difference whatsoever. The 10A now resides in another family member’s system, so I did not try the test on it. However, I have another high end pre here which I did try the test with and could tell that it compressed things a bit. So, my two cents: the SAS preamps are stellar – with my 11A, I hear no compression or any other alteration of the originating signal.                 

[scp2]

Ani DiFranco's Up, up, up, up, up is pretty interesting for the demo purposes, too.

Which album is this from?

[OzarkTom]

Has anyone here tried the DD non-preamp? I had in stock the CJ Premier, ARC SP-8, Spectral DMC-10, Melos preamp, Berning TF-12, and a Levinson 23 preamp. All of thesde preamps are fairly holographic, but when I ran the CD player straight into the amp that I was using, bingo. That was the most holographic sound I ever heard, and that was by a huge margin. That also is one less IC to take away from the sound quality.

One word of caution, never try this with speakers that have efficiency of 88db or higher. You will blow your ears off, speakers, or amp. My amp and speakers that I was using was a Berning 2100 tube and the still highly regarded Mordaunt Short 442 speaker system. I believe the efficiency was in the 85db area, no crossover on the mid-range driver.

After hearing the huge improvement that the DD non-pre made over every other preamp that I ever tried, I always wished someone would make a CD player built into an amp with a remote volume. Now that would be Nirvana

[jimdgoulding]

Which album is this from?

That's the title, scp2.

Tom, there some DAC's that can drive an amp direct.  My old Sony CDP drove my active speaks sans a pre. 

[spab]

One word of caution, never try this with speakers that have efficiency of 88db or higher. You will blow your ears off, speakers, or amp.

Good point! My cd player only outputs at 1v, most output at 2v or higher. So, I can connect from cd player straight to amps with a reasonable volume level.

[Kw6]

How about the Bottle head Bee pre?

[SteveFord]

That 10 years flew by in no time.
I must be having fun, it's more like 11 years.

It's interesting to look back at that list, I wonder how they would fare against today's offerings?

[RonN5]

I'll bet that a lot of those preamps listed throughout this thread would hold up very well against today's offering, many of which are now a little more focused on SINAID, distortion and neutrality. 

I'm using the Belles 22a which is a 2 tube 12au7 hybrid which first came out in 2012.  The preamp as described by David Belles  "The unit uses two 12AU7 tubes in conjunction with power mosfet regulators making it a hybrid vacuum tube design. The power supply is carefully isolated and the unit is biased with a constant current source emitter follower instead of a resistor". 

I'd give it a 2 thumbs up as being very holographic when paired with the right room, amp, speakers, etc.

[abd1]

I don't have a lot of experience with preamps but I started with the Don Sachs most recent design, fully loaded, and soundsw great. Then recently tried the Audio-GD HE1 XLR balanced tube preamp with built-in regenerative power supply and it is even more holographic. Check out the review here:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/amplifier/preamplifier/audio-gd-vacuum-he1-xlr-tube-preamplifier-review/

[SteveFord]

And in the author's discussion section under the review:

Is the Audio-gd vacuum-tube preamplifier the very best tube preamp I've heard? No. That honor would go to a Frank Van-Alstine modified Dynaco PAS (from the mid 1970's). I've not found another tube preamp that even came close.

[Kw6]

And in the author's discussion section under the review:

Is the Audio-gd vacuum-tube preamplifier the very best tube preamp I've heard? No. That honor would go to a Frank Van-Alstine modified Dynaco PAS (from the mid 1970's). I've not found another tube preamp that even came close.

Is Frank's current preamp offerings as good?

[Kw6]

I don't have a lot of experience with preamps but I started with the Don Sachs most recent design, fully loaded, and soundsw great. Then recently tried the Audio-GD HE1 XLR balanced tube preamp with built-in regenerative power supply and it is even more holographic. Check out the review here:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/amplifier/preamplifier/audio-gd-vacuum-he1-xlr-tube-preamplifier-review/

Please elaborate you got my full attention? What they use for volume attentuator?

[SteveFord]

I have an older AVA preamp (AVAStar) and it's very good once some Sylvania tubes were installed.
I think an awful lot has to do with how the preamp mates up with amp and speakers along with the room interaction.

I've never heard the one from the 70s, I was probably getting ready to grow my first whisker back then.

[Tyson]

Any preamp using 6sn7 tubes is worth checking out.

[sunnydaze]

I don't have a lot of experience with preamps but I started with the Don Sachs most recent design, fully loaded, and soundsw great. Then recently tried the Audio-GD HE1 XLR balanced tube preamp with built-in regenerative power supply and it is even more holographic. Check out the review here:

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/amplifier/preamplifier/audio-gd-vacuum-he1-xlr-tube-preamplifier-review/

Ten vacuum tubes?!   

Sorry, way too many.  That rules it out for me, don't care how good it sounds.  Imagine the nervosa (and the cost!) in trying to tube roll that thing? 

Why are so many tubes necessary?     Overly complex design...more to go wrong?  It's the same reason I shy away from most of the Supratek models -- despite the reputation for great SQ.