don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say Brian's test proved anything of the kind. That's what I think after running a v3, mme and even 1k as a onebox. I feel the shortcoming of the mme is the loose pre, and the shortcoming of the v3 is *not* the preamp, but thin sounding punchless dither. I haven't heard it, but opinions seem slanted toward the ua5 having done a nice job in one box, with Doug's assistance, which means a whole lot.