At long last I decided jump and thought my experiene would be helpful to others. For some 15 years my system was very simple & consisted of a series of mediocre CD players, an Adcom GFA 555II, played into a pristine vintage JBL Metregon, I was 2nd owner to most. I used an Audible Illusion L1 Line Stage Preamp, also 2nd owner. The AI Tube preamp made a huge improvement in the sound (to me). Iām 83 and my ears are not the best, but Iāve been listening to āgood soundā for 55 yearsā¼ļø. Well, my current rig consists of a Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a (recently recapped by C-J). Speakers are Martin-Logan Aeriusā. I have ripped some 1200 CDs to the cloud and play them back via a Toshiba Sattelite Laptop through an Audioquest Black Jitterbug & an Audioquest Dragonfly (red). I have an Arcam DVD-139 as well. Well, my AI L1 line stage preamp died & could not be fixed. So I researched other pre-amp, and there are a lot of good ones out there and several Audiogon Forum members offered several good suggestions, but in the end I leaned toward an Audible Illusions L3B because of my good experience with my previous AI preamp. The Honcho @ AI, Jerry was very helpful, and made me a financial offer I could not refuse. The build wait time was absurd, 12 weeksš©but Jerry always answered the phone & was encouraging. At long last the L3B arrived and was plugged in......and, wow! What a sound!. Clearly worth waiting for. The recent review of the L3A by Dick Olsher in The Absolute Sound was Spot On. Iād have to say Iām a happy camper and the Audible Illusion L3B was well worth the hassle & wait. Rongold