Help in deciding which tube preamp to replace my old SFL-2


I'm a long time audiophile. I am finally admitting that it is time to upgrade my tube preamp. For many years it has been my beloved Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 which was upgraded at Parts Connexxion about eight years ago and five years ago I changed out the 6922's to Siemens Rohre CCA tubes. Still sounds wonderful, but it's time. I am exclusively a vinyl listener and my system is: Nottingham table with Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge. Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono preamp fed to the SFL-2 via  balanced interconnects. Primaluna EVO 400's as monoblocks with new KT88's and vintage European small tubes. I also still have my Levinson 27.5 and 23 SS amps. Speakers are Avalon Acoustics Opus. All cables are Transparent Audio Ultras. Musical preference is mostly classic rock; Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Cars, Eric Clapton, etc... but have over 3,000 LP's and do listen to Sinatra quite often. Love string guitars. I plan to buy used, and my budget is around $10K. I've narrowed it down to the following: VTL 7.5 (III), CJ GAT, AR Ref 5SE of Ref 6, Concert Fidelity CF-080 LSX V3, or an Aesthetix Callstio Eclipse.

I respect all comments, criticisms, and suggestions. Thank you.

awise1961

Showing 3 responses by soix

It all depends on what sound characteristics/improvements you’re looking for.  All the preamps on your list sound different so you really need to nail down what kind of sound you’re looking for. 

What improvements are you looking for, and what sound characteristics are most important to you?