Thinking back over the preamps I've had, the main terms that come to mind are: noisy (controls on Dynaco PAT4); blurry (SAE MkIII & P102); dark (bass on Forte F44); natural (Threshold FET ten/hl); and fast (Threshold FET nine/e). In fairness, I enjoyed them all. Each was an improvement over its predecessor. More to the point, often a preamp's real attributes did not emerge until it was replaced by another.
The bad news is you may never find a perfect preamp. The good news is almost every component has some special signature quality. For example, the Threshld FET ten/hl offered a warm and natural tonality I've not encountered elsewhere. In my system, for the first time ever piano sounded right and real. However the ten/hl was a bit shy in high end extension. In comparison, the FET nine/e has high end extension to spare, is amazingly fast and rhythmic, but loses a bit in the tonality department. Must I sacrifice one quality for the other? I probably won't know that for sure until the day comes I replace the FET nine/e. Until then the most realistic thing I can say is I'm still exploring its ultimate character.
All things considered, how your preamp behaves may have a lot to do with the rest of your system. Masking and revealing happen all along the signal chain. Consider that sins of omission may be more forgivable than sins of commission. Ever so slightly smoothing your sound may make you wonder why your system sounds dull. Or maybe not. Anyone could tell you all day how different components worked for them, but the true test is slapping them into your own rig to hear how they do with the tunes you like to play.
In my book, reputation, reliability, serviceability, industrial design, feel, looks and even color (hiho silver!) run right up there with sound. Thankfully, good or prudent taste in non-sonic areas are useful indicators of care and quality in sound. Sure we'd all like to get the be all, end all stuff into our systems. But for better or worse, tastes and perceptions evolve as we learn and grow.
The bad news is you may never find a perfect preamp. The good news is almost every component has some special signature quality. For example, the Threshld FET ten/hl offered a warm and natural tonality I've not encountered elsewhere. In my system, for the first time ever piano sounded right and real. However the ten/hl was a bit shy in high end extension. In comparison, the FET nine/e has high end extension to spare, is amazingly fast and rhythmic, but loses a bit in the tonality department. Must I sacrifice one quality for the other? I probably won't know that for sure until the day comes I replace the FET nine/e. Until then the most realistic thing I can say is I'm still exploring its ultimate character.
All things considered, how your preamp behaves may have a lot to do with the rest of your system. Masking and revealing happen all along the signal chain. Consider that sins of omission may be more forgivable than sins of commission. Ever so slightly smoothing your sound may make you wonder why your system sounds dull. Or maybe not. Anyone could tell you all day how different components worked for them, but the true test is slapping them into your own rig to hear how they do with the tunes you like to play.
In my book, reputation, reliability, serviceability, industrial design, feel, looks and even color (hiho silver!) run right up there with sound. Thankfully, good or prudent taste in non-sonic areas are useful indicators of care and quality in sound. Sure we'd all like to get the be all, end all stuff into our systems. But for better or worse, tastes and perceptions evolve as we learn and grow.