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

That is some list, you probably couldn't go wrong with any of them. I would check out the ARC Ref 3 and the BAT VK-52SE/Rex.

C'mon Hooper.....just how many audiophiles do you think are named Andrew anyway?
What, do you think we are fools? :)

John (well, there may be two John's, since it's so common a name)

Are there any new designs that leapfrog all these top machines?

Andrew
[email protected]

Only subjectively. In reality, no, there is simply no clear winner. Sorry, if only it were so easy, we would all just put the other companies out of business and all simply buy 'the best'. In the real world it doesn't work like that.

I don't think you can point out 'the best' in any field though. Cars, homes, boats, wines, ice cream flavors, preamps, amps, they are all just subjective choices.

In the end, only you can decide what you like.

John

01-23-07: Weez
If it were me, I'd buy a Wyetech Labs Pearl and be done with it.

So the Pearl is better than the Opal?
Does Wyetech Labs know this?

06-28-07: Atmasphere
So the 'best' does not exist?

Well I think 'the best' does exist in many different forms. What is 'the best' to one may not be 'the best' to another. So I would say there is no 'absolute best', that is one that everyone WILL agree on, but there are many preamps out there that some will SAY is the best. Synergy, room interactions, and musical preferences probably have a lot to do with the reason why there is no one absolute best.

Same way with most things in life, different tastes in people, cars, vacation spots, or even ice cream flavors. There is no absolute best on any of these items, why should preamps be any different?

John

06-28-07: Atmasphere
So- if there is no 'best', doesn't it seem that there are a lot of manufacturers *saying* they have the best? I agree they can't all be right :)

Seems to be an awful lot of pizza manufacturers saying 'You've tried all the rest, now try the best', no? They can't all be right can they? Anyone can make a claim, as no one owns the copyright to the word 'Best', AFAIK.
So go ahead and make the claim Ralph, maybe it'll even boost sales. ;^)

As for your last statement, I don't know. I'm sure somewhere there is a Sony preamp owner that feels his preamp is the best. I don't think it's safe to assume that you can find anything in audio that someone, somewhere won't claim is the 'best'. I think the word 'best' is really overused and meaningless at this point. Just like there is no one 'Best' man, only many different folks opinions of who the 'Best' man really is. 8-)

Cheers,
John

Cheers,
John

Dave_b, click on Shane's (Downunder) 'System' link, right next to his moniker, to find out what the rest of his system is.
I also own a ARC Ref 3, but there is no need to belittle the CJ ART preamp. There are many different flavors for many different tastes. Enjoy what you have and be happy.

Cheers,
John

Hi Shane,

Yeah, I guess it has been awhile. I got tired of making all of the changes so I stopped posting my system a couple years ago. It seemed that my 'System' was always obsolete. 8-)

John

PS: I'll PM you with the latest boring details.

11-29-08: Inman29
BAT REX ... but it looks like Andrew started and then abandoned this thread in January, 2007, leaving everyone to respond to the black hole!

Unfortunately, that is more the norm than an aberration.