World's best Pre-amp for $10K and above?


Looking for the HOLY GRAIL in Audio? Here it is. I'm in my early sixties and retiring to my final system, which I was going to purchase during the past twelve months and decided to put on the brakes, and investigate whats out there as the most advanced engineered high end audio products for the money in the market place. As far as I'm concerned, the two top engineers in the world for the best Amp and Preamp at low prices are Bent Holter with Hegel Audio in Norway and Roger Sanders with Sanders Sound in Colorado. Why? The Hegel P-30 Pre-amp is a game changer, and will easily compete with Pre-amps at $30K and above. The FM Acoustics 268 Preamp that retails for $107K, uses a technology thats called "feedforward" instead of feedback.
Amps and Pre-amps since the early 80's have all used either global feedback, zero feedback or local feedback to filter out noise and lower distortion by sending and filtering the feedback current to filter capacitors or or an extra filter transformer. A small amount of voltage feedback occurs at the output stage in amps and preamps which goes back into the parts and boards causing noise and distortion which smears the quality of the music.The best Preamps in the world all have S/N noise ratios at 125 db's or above. The Hegel P-30 Preamp uses the same feedforward technology as FM Acoustics but is a more current design that Bent Holter calls "Sound Engine" patented technology that eliminates feedback which is why the P-30 Preamp has a S/N ratio of 132 db's, which has never been accomplished in high end audio with a Preamp costing $10K or below. The same applies to Roger Sanders Magtech amplifier which uses a patented linear voltage regulator that controls and regulates voltage with no excess voltage going back into the amp causing heat and distortion problems. The amp puts out 900 watts into 4ohms. Krell makes a pair of mono blocs that also use a similar voltage regulator. The amps are $100K a pair. HERES THE PERFECT SOLID STATE SYSTEM. A Hegel P-30 Preamp. A Sanders Magtech amp, A pair of Aerial Acoustics 7T speakers. The worlds finest SACD player, the Playback Designs MPS-5, designed by Andreas Koch, who invented SACD technology when he worked for Sony. He built the worlds first outboard DAC in 1982 and is legend in digital engineering. The MPS-5 is the most analog sounding player on the market which costs $17K. The Hegel P-30 is only $7500.00 and the Magtech amp is only $5K. The Aerials are $10K. Buy the solid core cables from Morrow Audio. They are low capacitance cables which matches up perfectly with these components. This combination sounds like the very best tube and solid state gear on the market. The whole system will cost about $42K but will sound as good as any system costing $200K. All of these products are game changers. If you want better looking cabinets and faceplates, then blow your money, but you will not get better performance for what this system has to offer. It is the HOLY GRAIL you are searching for and there is no better combination for the total cost of the system.
audiozen
Fair enough. You heard it and you liked it. Directly compared to what? In a system that you are familiar with? I am just trying to understand how you came to your conclusion. More information gives your comments more substance.
Sarcher30..having been a hard core Audiophile since the mid 70's and a former member of my State's Audio Society..I have reached the point of burn out of listening and evaluating gear for years around the country and at shows and retail stores coast to coast. There are many high priced, high end components that are a rip off that sound like sh*t and other high end products that are true state of the art that are 100% faithful to revealing the exact reproduction of the music as the artist and recording engineer intended. I don't give a crap what the brand is, or what Robert Harley or John Atkinson endorse, I focus on the word of mouth reputation of the brand and listen, which is much more relevant than the mags, and the Hegel P-30 regardless of its price, is about as musical as you could ever want or desire.
I wish I had the problem of choosing an over $10K preamp! :) For now I have to save my pennies!
Invenio 78..if you want a Pre-amp that will hold its own against any Pre-amp at $10K or below, I would highly recommend the Wyred4Sound STP-SE Pre-amp for $2K. Its the best product they make. Don't be deceived by its bland appearance. The board work, massive power supply and lay out is a work of art for the price. The best Pre-amp in the country under $5K but will perform equally to more expensive Pre-amps. Pick one up used for $1500. You won't be disappointed.
Audiozen, I can guarantee that the noise floor is not going to define the sound quality of any preamp, once it has gained acceptable levels. But excessive low noise floors do make me suspicious. A more important quality might be how the equipment reacts to a signal rather than the lack of one.

BTW, I could not listen to any of the preamps you mentioned- I like music to sound natural, for the equipment to not draw attention to itself, which is a failing of most of the brands you've mentioned so far.