Top Ten Tube PreAmp of all time?

Hey Detlof, I gather the I/O has broken in, or was it the cables that were the problem when you first started listening (I remember your posts on the Jadis Fidelity thread)? You still feel the I/O is a little colder?

Greetings, Rcprince! I commend you on your mnestic powers.
Yes its all broken in, except for my ears. I am still of two minds. I find the IO much quieter with a wider and deeper soundstage and a tad better separation between indiviual instruments. Probably, I must grudgingly admit, that its also more neutral. But I love that tad of euphonic coloration in the Jadis' mids, I love that bloom of individual instruments, that sonic aura, the JP80 can place around the sound of a solo violin and above all the holographic rendering of voices. The 200 does this even more than the JP 80. They are sonically very similar, only the 200 has a punch, which I never thought possible from a preamp. So I've found the Aesthetix/Jadis 200Bal a very happy marriage. However so far I mainly listen to chamber music through this combination. For big classical stuff or opera I have myself a Jadis fest with the JP80 as the RHIAA phono part through the 200's. Unfortunatedly the latter are only on loan so far, so if I suddenly disappear from Audiogon, I will probably have been caught robbing a bank in order to keep those four chassis marvels.

The older JP200 had a phono stage; I gather this one doesn't. I also have listened to a JP200 and thought it the best full-featured preamp I'd ever heard; I would consider it over my JP80, but the cost!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, Rcprince, I have to agree with you on all counts.

I have owned the SP-10, SP-11, and JP-80MC. I have auditioned the JP200 but never extensively as owning. The SP-11 has never been a contender. Interestingly, the SP-10 improved markedly when re-tubed with 6922s for 6DJ8s. I still remember the utter musicality and enjoyment from this preamp as unsurpassed. My JP-80MC usurped the musical crown until I had to re-tube it. I was never able even to approximate the original magical qualities of this preamp despite replacement tube sets from Jadis, RAM, or $$$NOS. I still longed for the re-tubed SP-10. Now I would'nt think of using a preamp (tube or SS) without a remote volume/mute control at least. But I'd be hard-pressed to rack my aural memory and choose between these two classics for the front end honors of my apocryphal audio valediction.