Paul Stamler wrote:

Excuse me, but that's tommyrot. I suggest you spend some time with a
Great River preamp and a cheaper preamp with as close a frequency
response as you can find. Do some listening tests, making sure you
match levels carefully. You will almost certainly hear the
difference. Then use both for ten years, and see which one is
broken.
More expensive preamps usually do sound better, and they're also
better built, which is part of what professional gear is about.

I would consider that to be an unproven hypothesis. AFAIK nobody has
done any revealtory technical tests that show what say, a Great River
does that is extra wonderful. Nobody has done the controlled listening
tests that would be required to conclusively show that its the
preamp's performance, and not the hype that people *hear*.

Neither Great River nor their competition whether priced high or low
deliver the goods when it comes to complete technical information.