i agree with pretty much everything skylab has written about the isabella,however, in my opinion- i think the isabella is a real bargain @ 6k. at this past 2010 canjam that i attended,i heard a 10k amp plugged into a 14k cd player = 24k in which i would not trade my isabella for,no way!    just like many here on head-fi call the sony r-10 s "the king of dynamic headphones" i consider the isabella pre-amp to be the king of tonality! in addition to its wonderfull rich tone,the isabella is the most organic and natural sound i have heard from any...

 my isabellina hpa is the 2nd hpa that i have purchased from vinnie! the 1st unit i upgraded to isabella pre-amp which i use with rwa 30.2 power amp and my harbeth hlp3-es2 speakers (system) what makes the isabellina hpa better than "ALL" previous amplification that i have owned in the past is very simple, and here are the ingredients 1-discrete circuitry (no opamps) 2-high current sealed lead acid batterys 3-highest quality parts inside 4-highest quality of cabling inside(yes premium cabling does make a difference) 5-16bit r2r nos dac (giving a very...