I've used many pres, and have not heard a SS pre that was better sounding than the Odyssey Tempest. I replaced that pre only after buying an Audioprism Mantissa tube pre, and spending $600 extra for teflon cap upgrades and top line tubes (making it a pre costing around $1600 total). For the $500 I paid for the Tempest (on Audiogon), it was excellent. AND, it has a pretty good phono stage.