Best solid state pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ??

Hey John - once my CDP and power conditioner break in, i would like to have you over to hear the little Nagra PL-L. (I seem to have a thing for small electronics with big sound).

BTW, I wholly agree with John, the system sounded much better WITH a high quality preamp that direct from the AA to the Berning (it was my system he was referring to).

Dgad - interesting comments. As I ONLY had an AA as a source (i.e., no vinyl, tape or tuner), i was not able to use the AA as a preamp only. I will add that the Nagra is AS TRANSPARENT as direct - and by that I mean ALL the informaition on the disk gets through, unblemished. If anything i seemed to hear MORE information with the Nagra in the chain than when it ran direct. AND AND AND, the information has better harmonic resolution, better paplability and better decay....

I would agree with you wholeheartedly that the Audio Note M5, First Sound, Callisto Signature, BAT 31SE, and CAT sig mk3 (I had ALL of these in my system, so im talking about actual experience) were LESS transparent than direct, though to varying degrees and with varying degrees of added warmth, palpability, depth, bass slam and so on.

See my system page - this is hunt for transparency and nneutrality are exactly what led me to buy the Nagra - compared to every other preamp i tried, it was easily the most transparent, yet still provided the body, depth (the 'tube thing' you refer to) to the music which was missing direct... I did not expect this to be the case, as I only audiotioned it on a whim, but I was floored.

Of course adding a Reimyo over the AA, and isoclean power gear helped this as well, but I heard the Nagra with the AA (before the Reimyo and isoclean stuff), and without a doubt, the same observations applied. the Nagra PL-l is without a doubty the most transparent preamp I have ever heard.

I am sure there are other that would be better, but for my priorities, so far, the Nagra is the CAT's meow - no pun intended.

grant you may be correct, but also realize that the Audio Aero does have a built in anal;og outpput stage, which if you are using ity ve a stand alone preamp, it clearly inferior. basically it boils down to whether the built in preamp section of that particular CDp is comparable to allowing it to run at a 'fixed' volume and allowing a real outbpard preamp do the honor of preamping and volume controlling. So it's not really as simple as preamp vs no preamp....

moreover, many have remarked that the Audio aero built in preamp pretty much stinks outside of -9db to -6dB (referring to its volume display when used as a preamp).

Grant - EXACTLY. Unforunately the analog output stage of the AA can not be bypassed completely (the way it can be on a Levinson 390S - I used to have one of these too), but when running a preamp, they (AA) advise its best to set the volume to "-7dB", and to my ear (as well as many others I corresponded with), it breaks down * SOME * once you get away from that setting.

The fact that the built-in preamp in the AA does not compare to several preamps retailing for $10K does not mean it's a failure, really - its a matter of degree. I guess it's not fair expect the built in preamp on that unit to compete with the very best stand alone preamps. FWIW, i also thought my Levinson 390S sounded best with a "high quality" (in my case a $8700 Ayre K-1x) preamp than direct.

I've never hraed it, but it sounds like the EMM preamp is very good, so it might sound better without a preamp - but see here - where some thought it did sound better with an excellent preamp.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1119833619

Frank - I know what you mean about the Nagra, but i think its simply more 'neutral', not imparting much bloom, so if your ear, system, power system, room etc, need a some warmth, the Nagra is not the one. I think the 6922's, power cord and line conditioning are key on that puppy....

I also understand ow much of our choices are serendipitous. I never ever, ever even thought about Nagra, but a local dealer insisted I audition his demo (read good price) ince i told him i mostly cared about transparency and neutrality, and the rest is history. Who knows, if there had been a local VAC dealer, i might be raving about its presence, decay and what not...

be sure to reports back on that comparison, and have fun!