Best solid state pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ??

Dgad - I fully understand what you have posted here and agree with your comments. As described above, my experiences parallel those of Tvad. And with vinyl as my primary source, driving my DAC into my amps is not really an option even if this was the "better" way to go. Indeed the final result comes down to a system, not an individual component.

The issue of "best" is always a personal thing. For one person, this could describe the ultimate extraction of information and clarity the source material has to offer. For others, it comes down to taking the listener to the performance with the portrayal of the characterizations described by Tvad.

How does inserting a tube line stage into a system so magically bring back the dimensionality of piano, sax, guitar, voice, etc.? I have no idea but I quit worrying as to the how and why. All I have to do is go upstairs and hit some piano keys to know that the audio system with the line stage far more accurately renders the characteristics of the piano than when the line stage is removed.

If the manufactured LP or CD has lost some of the dimensionality and decays of the music, and a tubed line stage, phono stage or amp helps to bring this back, with a minimal amount of lost resolution and "transparency", then for me, it is well worth the end result.

As Artg, Jadem6 and I have discussed many times, with our comparative listening sessions of many different preamps, amps, CDP's, etc., it takes a lot of effort to achieve a system balance of resolution, dynamics and dimensionality. When it comes to line stages, so far the Aesthetix Callisto Signature does this like no other I have heard. Now with Art's excitement of the Nagra, I will be eager to hear this as well.

Frankpiet: Based on the descriptions you made of the Nagra and CAT, it indeed sounds like the Janus fits right in the middle. My comment is based on my experience with the Calypso. You can only know for sure if you hear it for yourself. The Calypso build quality is quite impressive. So the Janus should be the same. These do not have the industrial look of the Callisto and Io. But these latter pieces are special in their own ways. And concerning the build quality of the CAT SL-1, I never found this to be an issue. So I am puzzled with your findings here.

John

Dgad - interesting comments. As I ONLY had an AA as a source (i.e., no vinyl, tape or tuner), i was not able to use the AA as a preamp only. I will add that the Nagra is AS TRANSPARENT as direct - and by that I mean ALL the informaition on the disk gets through, unblemished. If anything i seemed to hear MORE information with the Nagra in the chain than when it ran direct. AND AND AND, the information has better harmonic resolution, better paplability and better decay....

I would agree with you wholeheartedly that the Audio Note M5, First Sound, Callisto Signature, BAT 31SE, and CAT sig mk3 (I had ALL of these in my system, so im talking about actual experience) were LESS transparent than direct, though to varying degrees and with varying degrees of added warmth, palpability, depth, bass slam and so on.

See my system page - this is hunt for transparency and nneutrality are exactly what led me to buy the Nagra - compared to every other preamp i tried, it was easily the most transparent, yet still provided the body, depth (the 'tube thing' you refer to) to the music which was missing direct... I did not expect this to be the case, as I only audiotioned it on a whim, but I was floored.

Of course adding a Reimyo over the AA, and isoclean power gear helped this as well, but I heard the Nagra with the AA (before the Reimyo and isoclean stuff), and without a doubt, the same observations applied. the Nagra PL-l is without a doubty the most transparent preamp I have ever heard.

I am sure there are other that would be better, but for my priorities, so far, the Nagra is the CAT's meow - no pun intended.

If anything i seemed to hear MORE information with the Nagra in the chain than when it ran direct.

I would argue that this is an illusion, and in reality is impossible. You simply can't have more information reaching the amplifier with an additional link in the system chain. Perhaps the Nagra is highlighting or boosting certain frequencies which accounts for hearing more detail.

grant you may be correct, but also realize that the Audio Aero does have a built in anal;og outpput stage, which if you are using ity ve a stand alone preamp, it clearly inferior. basically it boils down to whether the built in preamp section of that particular CDp is comparable to allowing it to run at a 'fixed' volume and allowing a real outbpard preamp do the honor of preamping and volume controlling. So it's not really as simple as preamp vs no preamp....

moreover, many have remarked that the Audio aero built in preamp pretty much stinks outside of -9db to -6dB (referring to its volume display when used as a preamp).