Matching Gear matter to you?

I purchased a phono stage from a company where I had their DAC and preamp.  It was the most disappointing piece of equipment I ever purchased and was happy the day I sold it.

not sure what brand you are talking about and what the difference is between products.  Is this an obvious scenario where the pricier product is inferior?  Is it a divided opinion?  

The phono stage I bought was more than 3x as expensive as the one I had and I heard no improvement.  Part of it was that the unit I had was an absolute bargain and the unit I bought was a bad value even on clearance.  But hey....my one remote turned all three units on.  

Interesting. The preamp is your most important component in many ways. If it is tube based, you have some flexibility in the sound profile and it is a little cheaper to roll tubes than in a power amp.

the one other question I have is all the equipment balanced or unbalanced?  In general I would say my current preamp is better than my prior preamp but it is single ended and my old system was balanced. When I swapped it straight into the balanced system it was not better.  

Fully balanced equipment always works best in a system that is fully balanced. And by fully balanced I mean end-to-end, not just a single ended unit with XLR connections added in.

then it comes down to what defines "better."  Synergies between products are very real.  Few other things to think of:

Does the off brand product have the right level of gain to match with your amp?  Preamps can have wildly different levels of gain and the appropriate amount is dictated by the amp.  Most companies preams will compliment the amps in the same line. 

What is the tube compliment?  Sometimes one product is better with stock tubes but when you roll in different tubes, another can excel.  In some cases, you have virtually no choice in what tubes you get. 

What sound profile are your trying to achieve?  There are a few companies that I can think of that produce tube preamps that sound solid state.  Does the off brand component serve as a substitute in terms of sound profile?  

One persons "better" is not another persons.  Are you sure that this other preamp is better?  Is there a technical reason why?  

Incidentally, doesn't matter if you answer these questions here.  Just want to provoke thinking to make sure that you are making the right choice.  Years ago, I bought a power amp not really knowing how finicky it was with preamp pairing.  I demo'd four preamps (amp in tow) to get one that sounded great.  Saved myself $1000 vs just going with the preamp from that brand and have no regrets about it.