"good preamplifiers are few & far between"
I agree. I went through about 20 before finding one I could live with long term.
Many higher end preamps are dated and ugly, why is this?
Conrad Johnson, BAT, VTL are all very good preamplifiers, they are dated and just ugly. Audio research is a prettier amplifier but it's not very well regarded due to it sounding more like a solid state, ie. Not really a tube preamp despite all those internal lightbulbs.
Cheaper preamps can be more pretty. Schitt makes a pretty preamp for about $1000. People like pretty.
D'Agostino by many is viewed as very attractive but kind of weird.
Showing 2 responses by mitch2
@ghdprentice +1
As I like to say, we vote with our wallets. Visual appearance is probably more of a factor with speakers than with electronics, which are often tucked away in a rack or cabinet. |