Best tube pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ?

The deHavilland Mercury has given me 7 months of musical pleasure adding more realism and even less listening fatigue to an already excellent system. It is extremely natural sounding. I had the Pass 2.5 before the Mercury. I would rate the Pass 9/10 and Mercury 9.5/10. I think it is a very good value for the money. I have found out many times you have to listen for yourself. Artg was disappointed, but after 40 years of being an audiophile I recommend giving the Mercury a try.

Sounds_real_audio
Let me get this straight. If somebody buys a deHavilland from you they are a good customer. Conversely, if a deHavilland does not suit their liking or system they have a "tin ear". Take me off of your prospect list and keep the bacon frying.

Wc65mustang, just be sure to wear a shirt if you're frying bacon :) That reminds me, time to put the brats on the grill.

time to put the brats on the grill.

Isn't that illegal? I usually just take the car away for a couple days.

And to reiterate for the 10th time, I freely admit my experience with the Mercury 2 might have been due to mismatch with the Berning amp (but to be clear, three other seasoned audiophiles had the same exact impression of it IN MY SYSTEM - so it's not only my ears or the stuff between them).

I have nothing but respect for Kara and the folks at deHavilland, and it does not suprise me ONE bit that the merc would be pure sonic bliss in someone else's system! Moreover, i apprecate that they allow a 30 day listen period with full refund if the unit does not match up well with your system. More should do that.