Preamps w/ best transparency/top end, no brightnes

My personal favorite that meets your requirement is one of the Shindo preamps.

Any of the Shindo preamps above the entry level Auriges-L has both line and phono.

Ultimate tone and dynamics with a sound that has body. Not thin like a lot of other 'hi-fi' sounding gear.

Opus88 - After a number of years of searching for these same qualities, I have settled on the Shindo Giscours preamp. To my ears, the Giscours strikes a perfect balance between transparency, tone and dynamics.

Previous preamps in my system have included (in order): Thor Audio TA1000, Thor Audio TA2000, Audio Zone PRE-T1, Modwright 9.0SE and Shindo Monbrison.

I encourage you to take a look (and listen) to any of the preamps in the Shindo line and judge for yourself.

Best,
Wayne

In my experience, Shindo, Jadis (at least the JP200 I own, though my older JP80 was not nearly as extended in the highs or transparent) and the best VAC preamps have these qualities. The Shindo preamps are the first I have heard that have made me consider selling my JP200 (in large part in order to have one box instead of 4, but in order for me to consider the change they had to match the Jadis from a sonic perspective as well), though they won't work in my current setup, as they aren't really intended for driving a signal through 40 feet of interconnects.

May I suggest the following (I own both):
1)Tube preamp: Sonic Frontiers Line 2SE+ (upgraded by Chris Johnson of PCX). Crystal clear detailed extended top end without any harshness at all. Terrific mids and deep bottom end to boot. You'll have to add an external phono amp.
2) Solid state preamp: Bryston BP26 it is different in musical presentation from the SF but strangely enough the same comments apply. This pre is available with your choice of MM or MC phono stage, I find this pre to be accurrate, fast and very enjoyable to listen to.

Both the above are great preamps that are extremely enjoyable to listen to especialy with well recorded material. You will get lost in the music!

ARC REF 3 !!! If you don't believe the reviews then just give it a try. You won't regret it !!

You are describing my Shindo Monbrison.

A real sleeper is the Gill Audio Alana. You might have to wait for one though.

Hovland Hp 200!! It's awesome

Agreed on the better VAC preamps, I owned the Renaissance and it was amazingly open on the top. Altho I love my current Hovland, it doesn't compare in that regard. My former Supratek Syrah and Cary SLP-98 F1 were far behind these two...

Opus88, I certainly would generally agree with your initial posting. I entirely concure with the comments about the Shindo gear also, although I have never owned any of the electronics. I have also heard an extraordinarily good Exemplar tube unit. I would say, however, that there are definitely poor performing tube phono and line stages and exceptional solid state units. My old TAG was one, but my present H-Cat P-12R is truly exceptional in terms of imaging and accuracy across all frequencies.

I can vouch that the VAC Ren Sig II delivers what you've described in spades in my system.....

Ayre K-1xe with there phonostage.(which is very good)