Pre-amp opinions: SAE vs. Hafler

Keep looking. First I had an SAE, it got noisy so I got a Hafler. The Hafler was musical yes, but nothing special. It was nicer than the SAE but not very reliable. If you looked under the hood, it would be apparent. It's a stepping stone in my opinion. Acurus makes a sweet preamp (L10) which can be had used for less than $300 on ebay that will blow away both the Hafler and Sae, and it's extremely well built, very apparent under the hood. Built to last. It lacks a phono stage however, but you shouldn't rule it out based on that. If you get the Acurus, I don't think you'll get the upgrade bug so fast. I have a friend that started out with a free Hafler (part of a package deal) that developed a channel volume mismatch problem. No big deal to fix, and I offered. Instead, he picked up an Acurus and now won't even bother to waste his time on the Hafler.

Thanks for all the recommendations. Made an offer on the SAE but didn't end up getting it. Decided to bite the bullet and picked up the Hafler for $125 shipped. I'll reply to the sound once everything is received and hooked up. My denon just recently decided to develop a pop and some static so looks like i'll be searching for a new digital source sooner rather than later. Looking at a Marantz PMD320 or potentially an NAD 512 i can pick up locally for around $50. Marantz is going for $60 shipped on ebay, any opinions? Only good part about the changer dying is getting some quality time with my cassettes, all five of them haha

@Pdspecl

That B&K looks nice, didn't realize i had any replies until today, would've made an offer had i noticed sooner. This forum is a great resource, thanks for your reply.

@Heyraz

My dad gave similar advice; keep what you have and save up for equipment that won't need upgrading. He has a nice carver set up with mission speakers, the same system he has owned for the last 20 years (most of my life). This route definitely makes the most sense but i'm a little too impatient. I think i'll end up going through a number of pieces before i settle on a final system. I guess looking for me is half the fun. The acurus is very nice, maybe i'll get a chance to try one in the future, who knows. Thanks for the input.

http://www.angelfire.com/art2/stereorepair117/highend.htm
Here's a site that does repairs. What I found interesting is that most equipment usually fails the same way, so these guys have listed many known issues. Take a look before you jump. Patience pays off in the long run. When I was in college I started out with what I could afford and a plan that when something failed, I would take the opportunity to upgrade it rather than simply replace it. After a while I got sick and tired of being nickeled and dimed to death by mediocre equipment and bought my first "real" preamp (Hegeman Hapi2). Still with me today on a secondary system and sounds great.
Sorry to say it..but listen to your dad. Enjoy the Hafler. It's a great starter preamp.