Best Used Tube Based Preamp $2k Or Under?

Tubes4hifi  SP14 Preamp 

Anyone have experience with the somewhat new LAB 12 Pre1? Its gotten consistently excellent reviews. Its $2400.00 new and they sell for about $1700.00, used. 

Herb Reichert, in Stereophile, said (in a comparison with two much more expensive preamps) 

"I regard all three preamps as sitting at or near the leading edge of what's possible with line-level preamplification."

I own a Supratek Cabernet.  Mick made it new in 2023.  It is  fantastic pre that performs way above it’s price.  If you can find one used with remote I would recommend it highly.  They are made with remotes.  Johnny Slate is the USA tech located in North Carolina.  Mick has been dealing with health issues of late.  Last I heard 2 months ago Mick has suspended his building until his health improves.  Hope he is doing well.

Lab12 makes great components priced very well.  I owned their Dac1 Reference and was very impressed with the SQ and build quality.

I had a VTL TL-2.5 for many years & upgraded to the VTL TL-5.5.

The TL-2.5 is a great preamp - all tube with remote.

The TL-5.5 is quite an upgrade, and its even better if you upgrade the JJs to NOS tubes.

Using an Audible Illusions l3a right now and am very happy.