A great linestage/preamp "makes" a great system

I finally got it right, but by pure chance.
The only thing I couldn't find was a pre-amp that wouldn't aggravate me never mind one that lifted my system to the highest point I ever thought I could want or afford. I need look no further.
I collect 6SN7s which I had been using in an ultralinear PP integrated 40WPC amp. I switched my WAF amp to a Jadis DA-60 which uses 12AU7s and 12AX7s. My big rig was controlled by a modded wire with gain all 12AX7 ARC SP6B. I could finally listen to my 73i6s in the Jadis and made ample use of the 5751s I had accumulated.
I nevertheless had to get a pre that used 6SN7s and I lucked into a "miracle". This preamp uses all of 2 tubes both 6SN7s, it is the AE-3 from Cary's sub brand. The bill for this used bought on Agon was an incredible grand total of 300 or so bucks. I bought it just to make sure the tubes I bought sounded as well as they tested.
This little pre has bought me nirvana with only a single set back. The 6SN7s do the important things like providing gain and phase splitting. All music must pass thru those tubes if anything is "off" about the tubes, it is ruthlessly revealed .
Some tubes I thought were really very fine when used as drivers are simply junk in this application.
I have used a number of 6SN7s in it while most take the system to my limbic system directly. there are tubes and there are tubes that are just more equal than others.
The more sought after ones are generally better. I found this to be the case except for a very popular tube and a royally expensive tube at that. The beloved Tung Sol round plate . I am certain it is vastly over rated the 4 pairs I own sound rather uninspired except for one pair that sound good but not glorious. I test them and even though they all tested very well. You really have to hear them. I don't know why the electrical parameters report a tube as very good, even test like new nominal and they can still sound like @#$%^&* So shoot me. I keep waiting for the magic from that bunch.
JAN CHS 6SN7 Ws are the top dog and it isn't subtle. The hard part with these is finding quiet ones- good luck, some sellers swear up and down, absolutely quiet one here, no noises at all, not even some microphonics and in use they sound like the furnace blew a gasket.
In sum and your point this pre is definitely a very crucial element in my system. It provided the synergy, the voice, and the glue along with my tube monoblocks to make the once elusive great system, we all aim for actually occur. It's a happy story preceeded by years of frustration. It all adds up to my idea of audio magic, a very very coherent sound. It is of course active.The phono from ASE costs more than the pre and I am certain there is no tube that lasts without a degradation in sound and becomes too noisy for phono stages. Otherwise I am a true tube person.
I should add that the AE-3 was upgraded with very good caps and new faster hex freds etc. along with some minor mods by a friend. We were both worried it might take something away. It didn't add a whole lot, but it didn't ruin it at all. He called it "scary good" and he is the designer of a very high end pre-amp. He said the 15K pre he is marketing was only 10% better than this one.

Mechans, how I wish I'd have found the best preamp for my system so inexpensively. You are lucky, indeed! FWIW, I'm also a 6SN7 collector as an Atma OTL owner. There are greats among them and two of the four I now use in each monoblock are Sylvanias.

My custom Audio Note preamp uses a pair of 5687s in the gain stage, the "smaller sibling" of sorts to the 6SN7. I must like the character of the 6SN7/5687 family!

Jb0194,

I do agree that for me at least, the line stage preamp is one of, if not the most difficult choices to make in building a quality stereo system. I can go back only about 4 years ago, when it took me 7 in home auditions to find the preamp that I chose.

I think one of the things that makes the preamp so difficult is combining sound quality, with features, and compatibility. For the most part, when we are choosing speakers, amps, sources, etc, we are only choosing quality of sound and compatibility. There are no real 'features' to rely on. For instance, a preamp you may be looking for remote control ability on top of phase inversion, balance control, balanced ins/outs, etc....etc.

A speaker only needs to sound good by comparison.

Bottom line, I do agree with you that the line stage is the 'trickest' piece to get in a great sounding system.

Cheers,
John

Features are definitely a huge consideration. One of the reasons I went the "custom" route with Bill Baker was to tailor a preamp to my liking. I wanted that glorious Audio Note sound with two pairs each of (transformer-coupled) balanced inputs and outputs. The M10 at the top of Audio Note's commercial preamp line has 'em (though I don't think a PAIR of each). I also wanted right and left channel 0.25 dB step DACT attenuators in addition to a DACT master volume attenuator to fine tune channel balance. Others surely would have a very different set of system-specific features.

I too feel that the preamp is the most critical component in the system. Since the amps and speakers magnify whatever the output is from the preamp it greatly effects outcome. I have gone through many hi end preamps by Audible Illusions, Sonic Frontiers, Hovland, Lamm, and Wyetech but found that my Shindo Vosne Romanee has made the largest positive difference in my sound of any component I have tried.