Can you distinguish a $100 preamp from a $4000 preamp? | The Little Red Light

READ THIS: In October of 2012, Sound on Sound did a preamp shootout. The idea was to use a player piano that played the exact same performance every time, with the same microphones, but different preamps. I took the liberty of putting the first 13 seconds of each clip into a video for you to easily listen to the differences. The preamps were: API 3124 , ART Pro MPA II, GP Electronics PML 200E, Maselec MMA 4XR, AMS Neve 1073LB, SSL XLogic VHD, Mackie VLZ Pro, What is most re