So - shootout. Brick vs. RNP.
I'm not looking for more unqualified (meaning unexplained, not undeserved) praise for the RNP... I'm looking for a direct comparison of some kind between the Brick and the RNP. They're completely different kinds of preamps - the RNP solid state, the Brick pure tube.
I'm really trying to go after a thick, colored vocal sound - think Fiona Apple with lower range (I'll be using it on everything else of course, but really at base I'm looking for this for vocals). She uses ELAMs and 47s, so naturally I won't get to that level of "perfection" - but I just want that color, without everything turning to mud. On the same token, I find that the starved plate in the VTB-1 really helps to even out the wild dynamics of my (literally) dying piano, while at the same time keeping note definition pleasing in the mids and clear (instead of loud, trebly, and "plucky"). I want that kind of character in my new preamp. Can the RNP give me that? Or am I better off with something like the Brick?
This time it's for serious, yo. Fer rillz.