Preamp Options under $3500

I have a Schitt Kara F preamp that replaced the 4x more expensive Holo Audio Serene. The Serene was very good but after a head-2-head with a friend's DIY preamp, the bloom fell off the Serene for me.

I figured the $799 Kara F would be very close to the Serene. It is about 85% as good as the Serene so I sold the Serene.

The Kara F is going into a Schitt Wotan amp (which I really like). I have the Schitt Yggi+ MIB DAC also in the system. 

I put my Benchmark HPA4 preamp into the system and loved the sound over the Kara F. As I have said in many posts. You can give me a million $ and for audio and I still use the HPA4 or LA4 preamps. 

I even have my office and Livingroom system hooked up to the same HPA4 preamp at the same time. Of course, only one system plays at any time.

The Kara F still gets used, but now only for my RAAL SR1a earphones, via the same Schitt Yggi+ MIB DAC and the Schitt Aegir amp.

@helomech  I like hearing stories like this. Can you share what other preamps you had that you ultimately preferred the A70 pro to?

You could look for a used Luxman CL-38uC.

@t_ramey 

I have had the Benchmark LA4, Bel Canto Pre5, Bel Canto PRe1 with Ace Tomato upgrades, the Coda Continuum CP, Mac C49, Schiit Freya (passive mode), Questyle CMA 12, Quad Artera, Topping Pre90 and Topping A90 Discrete. Also various line stage sections of integrated amps (some of which are surprisingly good), and DACs with volume control. Those are just the solid state ones that I can recall off the top of my head. 

I would recommend looking for a used Audio Research PH8 (although PH7 would also be good... just not quite as). I had one for many years. The first phono stage I owned that completely got out of the way... incredible sounding, built like a tank to perform for decades. Conrad Johnson and Zesto also makes great phono stages. By buying used you can get up into the audiophile range getting superior sound and build quality.