We didn't have a John Hardy in the list... I would have liked to hear it first hand too....
These were the pres that were compared using a drum kit, and then a female vocal.
API 512B
Focusrite ISA 430 (Producer's Pack)
Summit MPE-200 "Element 78"
Drawmer 1960
Drawmer 1969 "Mercenary Edition"
Vintech 1272 (Neve Copy)
Sage SE-Pre1 (Designed by Phil Bova)
Groove Tubes VIPRE
Great River MP2-NV
Universal Electronics 6176
There was no "clear winner" -- what really became obvious was the different flavours each pre imparted.... very much like an artist's palette. Some things shone, others didn't handle other things well... some got cloudy and veiled when pushed too hard, others really opened up....
All of them are excellent - not all of them are excellent at the same things! But to me, the Great River was the most balanced on all the comparisons.
What made
the Groove Tubes VIPRE so flexible was the ability to control so many parameters such as impedance and rise time, even to the point of being able to de-ess a sibilant vocalist while maintaining the sonic character of the signal!
