Avalon is moving their factory last I heard.

There are lots of colored pre's out there, but none really like the M5. Check out Great River, they make an excellent pre.

I'd like to hear one of these:
Line 6 Manuals

From what I have read from those I respect that have heard and used the Focusrite Liquid Channel, I certainly would not waste my money on one. Talk is cheap., one way or another, you have to find a way to listen to the gear you are interested in so you make a choice on your own.

From what I have read from those I respect that have heard and used the Focusrite Liquid Channel, I certainly would not waste my money on one.

Interesting. No big surprise I guess... Could start to get decent after a few years of active development. For example I've read a couple positive things about the Vintech units from some names. Anyhow thanks Audiogaff, I have no doubt that you're right on the money about the current version of Liquid Channel. 8-)

I like and own a pairt of Vintech x81's. Well worth owning.

I use the ART Pro Channel on vocals a good bit, and have been really pleased with that unit. Its not only a pre , but also a comp. and EQ... all of which are tube driven, and the comp can be switched to between optical and tube.... both the comp. and EQ can be bipassed (independantly) with the push of a button. I didnt really like the sound of the pre with the stock tubes so i took some advice from another fella and swapped the stock tube for a Shuguang tube (9th generation tooling, very consistant) from http://www.vintagelectron.com and was really impressed with the sound this box provides.... very warm and smooth. You get somewhere around 80db of gain using balanced connection and somewhere around 60db of gain using unbalanced connections. For the price i dont think you can beat this unit with a stick, but like i always say.... one man's treasure is another man's trash.

Peace,
BEN

Despite the fact that some folks don't like the ART gear, I too have had nothing but positive experiences with it. I have a retubed ART TUBE MP here which sounds as good as the pres on a lot of boards and it was cheap. I use to use a TUBEPAC and it was decent also once retubed. I've used it to great effect on lots of stuff, I definitely find it's a handy piece to have lying around. 8-)

swanmusic wrote: I want to get a preamp for vocals. Please suggest a preamp which is like the M5 - slightly colored, clean and used mainly for vocals.

Other than the famous Avalon M5, how about a ViPre. I like my Great River MP2-NV. The GR is great on vocals (and darn near everything else for that matter).
Lastly, any one of the Sebatron pre-amp unit's (for vocals as well). Lots or colour, or not so much. It's totally up to you, and how hard you drive the tubes.
{my 2cents}

Manley