Musical Design or Van Alstine for new preamp?

WOW I coudn't disagree more, I think those two tubes glowing through that slightly tinted black grid on the fron looks real good, but hey what Do I know. I have had the Musical Design sp-2B now for about 6 years now and I have loved this pre-amp from day one. It has a relaxed natural tone to it. I think you will like it, try it for 30 days and if don't JH will give you your money back.

I agree with the above response. The SP-2B is excellent both in looks and sound quality. Not a diamond in the rough but a polished jem! Tube types are everything and the sound can be greatly improved with tube rolling.

Phd, please explain tube rolling. I have the original SP-1, which still sounds good. I tried some NOS tubes, but ended up with a high-pitched noise in one of the channels. I would love to tweak this old preamp without spending an arm and a leg.