Reccomend a good preamp for me.

My Shindo Monbrison is probably my favorite piece of audio equipment I've ever owned.  I've used it with a lot of different amps (all tubes, some SETs, an OTL, and some push-pulls, none of them Shindo amps) and it has been fantastic with all of them.  I don't think I'll ever part with it, unless I'm able to go up the chain with another Shindo preamp.

Hi there.  I see we have a couple of inquiries this week for high end prees.  I'll share what I said in my response to the other member.  I had the ARC 40th Anniversary, followed by the ARC Ref 10 and then auditioned the BAT and CAT counterparts, as well as the Soulution 725. I landed on the Octave Jubilee Preamp because it was so much better than the rest.  It's stellar.  A hybrid design (SS power supply and tubed line stage).  You don't need to be into tube-rolling with the Jubilee, but if you ever want to scratch that itch then sonic fine tuning and flexibility can be very rewarding and fun.  Something SS prees can't offer - like the full meat on the bone palpable presentation with the transient speed and dynamic range of the best SS offerings.

I'm a little puzzled when new threads on this topic come up, as it seems to me that it's been discussed at length. Of course, I'm biased. I own a Supratek.

Here's a suggestion - go up to the top of this amps - preamps forum and click on the tab for "all time most popular threads". At the TOP of that tab you will find the "preamp deal of the century" thread. This thread is decades old, with 26 million page views. It is about the budget Supratek preamp. It is a killer.

Other than that, I second the recommendation for the Don Sachs model 2. I like small, boutique builders. Maybe check out Emmanuel Go and his "First Sound" line. I like hand built, point to point wiring, obsessive engineering. But that's just me. There's a lot of good ones out there.

But there are many other *very fine* recommendations on this thread. Personally I don't subscribe to the "best preamp is no preamp" idea. A great preamp is the heart of a fine system. For many reasons.

Personally I don’t subscribe to the "best preamp is no preamp" idea. A great preamp is the heart of a fine system. For many reasons.

"A great preamp is the heart of a fine system. For many reasons."
Please give the "many" technical reasons, not poetic reasons, for this compared to
"best preamp is no preamp idea."

Cheers George

Another vote from me for a benchmark.  I have a LA4 in one system and a ARC Ref and a Boulder in my other systems.  For the $, the benchmark is nearly flawless.

@co93 I have a Benchmark HPA4 (same as the LA4) in an all BM stack. How does your LA4 compare with the ARC and Boulder preamps? I have a CODA 07x preamp shipped today to me and I am looking forward to comparing the HPA4 to the 07x.

I love the HPA4 and consider it the best BM product I own. The HPA4 and LA4 are almost certain to be quieter than any gear hooked up to them so the statement about "no preamp" maybe appropriate with these 2 preamps.

Sachs tube preamp or Supratek preamps

Bonjour,
Aries Cerat Incito S, or Halgorythme Ecc32, Cv181 Mullard tubes.

I bought a Don Sachs preamp last month. I had few issues while it was shipped but Don took care of it. I finally started listening to it since this week. I am way too impressed. 

Find a preowned Luxman C800F and you're done, does not sound like a solid-state or tube sound, just natural and ultra low noise design and built to last forever. 

I've owned a LOT of Preamps in my years of being involved in Audio...including  EAR 912.  Truthfully...wouldn"t trade any of them for the BLACK ICE F360 I currently have in my System.  As a line stage it is stellar.

I use the Balanced outputs to run 20ft of cable to my KR842VHD based monoblocs with no problem at all.  

Lots of recommendations for a Don Sachs preamp. I have one and am extremely impressed with it.

Don will customize it to your specs. He’s a great guy to talk to.

One caveat: Don no longer builds his preamps with balanced outputs. Inputs, yes. Outputs, no.

Well worth consideration.

I can highly recommend Concert Fidelity CF-080LSX2. Masataka can make one of the inputs and outputs balanced. It is one of the most neutral preamps. It allows easy tube rolling.

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue41/concert_fidelity.htm

The Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL Preamp is a giant killer. It beat the 16K pass labs and the Vinnie Rossi LIO DHT. I had to put it back on the rack because nothing else I’ve tried sounds as good.

Herron Audio VTSP-360 ESP is absolutely superb - do some online searches on gear from Herron Audio; I just got a phono preamp and a line-stage preamp from Keith Herron, and yeah, his gear really is as good as everybody goes on about, and he's a pleasure to correspond with....