I see that Mike Matthews is up to his old tricks again!! I don't see a price on this puppy, but how miserably cheap does his stuff get? He used to "take" people for a ride in the 70's with gear that looked great on paper, but never delivered for more than a few hours of use. The reviews of his other "tube" equipment in this line talked about the way EH went about getting "200 volts" out of a wall-wart-based power supply. How desperate are you for "tube tone" from a pre? If you want tube audio on a budget, save your $$$ and buy a Brick...PEACE.

actually I already have The Brick. I was just curious what you guys thought of it.

Mark,

i dont know i havent heard it, but i would say please give me a better package then that. with all these new cheap tube amps the brick seems like the most usable package. im talking about blues robbie (i know hardly cheap) and tha new one from tascam. please give me a pre in a rack mount a 1-2u rack is the best even if its a half or quarter mount just let me put it in my rack. main resone is im not going to use a 200 tascam pre every time most likly and i can easaly store it by putting it in my closet rack.

Hmm. Yet another thing with lamps in it.

In my mind, I don´t care for lamps. I care for the sound. If it sounds good it may have lamps or for that matter whatever anyone cares to put into the box, even if it is specially treated ox manure.

And in my limited experience I still have to find one single example of a budget preamp that in any way benefits from having a lamp in it. I have heard a few really good preamps with tubes, and others without it. But I think the good sounding part comes from a lot of things, and the tube is only a small part of the that. There is no "warmth" in the sound of a bad lamp if you ask me.

But, as always, the proof is in the sound.

Gunnar