Opportunity to buy the best Preamp... but which?

Andrew; based on your tastes...

"My preference would be a neutral tube based model."

.....you are looking for a preamp that has a bit of the sweetness of tubes, but not euphonic warmth.

i have heard all those pre's on your list and to my ears the darTZeel NHB-18NS will give you both the sweetness and neutrality you are seeking. it is the only one that is battery powered.....which really does set it apart in areas of low noise and dynamics. it also contains a world class phono stage. if you choose to use it with the darTZeel NHB-108 amplifier you will save money on interconnects at it uses a propietary BNC 'zeel' cable which has amazing performance, can be any length up to 1 kilometer, and is relatively cheap.

any of those other pre's and others mentioned in this thread are very good.....you are right....it becomes a matter of taste and context at this level of gear.

good luck and have fun with your choice.

Gregm, thanks for the feedback on the dart vs FM.

2 questions.

you mention the dart pre was 'as satisfying' as the 255 with the dart amp; was it more similar sounding to the 255 or was there significant differences in the balance?

i'm not sure you have one of the FM Acoustics phono stages, but if you do.....were you able to compare the dart internal phono stage to the FM?

Herve used the big FM Acoustics phono stage as his reference when he designed the pre and phono stage so i would expect there to be considerable similarity.

FM Acoustics is phenominal gear.

Greg, thanks for the details on your comparison. i would have liked to have been there.

best regards,