Joule Electra LAP 150 and Bent Audio NOH - I own and use both. The Joule replaced a Hovland HP 100 P, which in turn replaced a VTL 7.5. The Joule is by far the best tube pre-amp I have heard or used - it is very dynamic (using the very latest in Russian super tubes, and separate power supplies that would power Cleveland for many separate stages) and gives the most "you are there" reality and "jump" in the midrange I have heard. The tube phono section is wonderful. As a back-up (with high-powered tubes you always want a back-up) I use the Bent Audio NOH - a passive pre-amp, but using exotic transformers to step up the current to avoid the "anemic" sound that can result from passive pre-amps. It also uses the latest in relay switching and remote controls - very handy. Anyway the Bent NOH is very, very clean and pure, but still punchy, particularly on CD, every bit as much as the Joule LAP.
Tally up best preamplifier ever
We have seen so many threads on what is the best preamplifier ever, but the responses end up in paragraph form as a result making it hard to get a good accessment of which preamplifier gets mentioned most or more often, which is ok, but let us see if we can get a thread going that will make it easy to tally up which preamplifier gets the most votes as the best preamplifier............. We all have different tastes let's keep in mind that the diversity is a plus and there is no need to make this a personal crusade................ I think most of us would like to see a genuinely accurate picture of which is the best preamplifier. I don't like to live by rules but if I may suggest let's keep the response limited to just the name of the preamplifier company and model name or number. Every now and then we can get a score card showing the results. I would like to start off with what I consider the best preamplifier: .............. hovland hp200