What's your "diminishing returns" preamp choice?


What preamp would you consider is at the point of diminishing returns for you? I realize this is a vague and subjective question, but I think it will be interesting to hear the answers.

Of course, a $10,000 preamp will (probably) sound better than a $1,000 preamp but everyone has a different point at which they feel they have spent enough money. In some cases, one may feel that there isn't a significant difference between a $2k piece and a $10k piece to justify such a purchase.

I've noticed that there are some gems in the audio world that defy their price point. For instance, Apogee Centaurs, Halfer 9505 etc. I've always found such pieces fascinating.
woofer72
Has anyone ever heard a bottlehead beepre? I've been intrigued by 300 B preamps for quite some time and loved the DIY aspect of the hobby. So I really been thinking about giving the bottle head A try.
I use a Passive DIY built clone of a Music First Baby reference, which is excellent for detail and transparency, but lacks the last bit of slam and dynamics.
This quote by David12 is something I have heard many others say about passives and is consistent with what I personally hear from the two resistor-based passives I own.

I have owned some 20'ish preamps in the $3-10K price range, including many of which are still current models. For me, the merry-go-round stopped with my McCormack TLC-1 that Steve McCormack at SMc Audio upgraded/rebuilt with the single goal of providing the best sound possible. It is now a zero-gain, balanced, buffered-active preamp with an outboard choke power supply, Lundahl transformers, Jensen copper foil caps and a Shallco discrete-resistor volume control with Audio Note resistors. It has a new black faceplate and is pictured on the SMc Audio website and on my A'gon virtual system page. It just kills every other preamp I have owned. I highly recommend you give Steve a call and discuss your options. One of the best audio purchases I have made.
I can list off preamps up to 8K that couldn't hold a candle to my LDR at 1/8 the price.

Shakey
I recently purchased an Ayre K5xe-MP here on Agon and absolutely love it. I was playing my CH Precision C1 dac direct into my CH Precision A1 amp and it sounded great, but with the Ayre there's a slight sweetening of the sound with no or little loss of air and dynamics playing the C1 direct. I think the K5xe-MP is a steal even at full list.