I did something similar a few months ago.
I purchased a KRC-3 from eBay in March for roughly $1100 and spent less than $100 for 4 new Neutrik XLRs, 54 Nichicon Muse and ES Audio capacitors from Mouser. The Nichicons are actually an upgrade for this already fine line stage preamp. The orginal KRC-3 cost was $3,000 at introduction and had climbed to $4k by the time it was discontinued. The best way I can describe the "sound" of it is that it has little sound of its own. If the source material has gobs of depth then that is what I hear. The KRC-3 is feeding a McIntosh MC352 amp which powers Martin Logan Prodigy speakers.
A lot of my stuff is used because I want a certain quality but honestly I cannot afford these items new. I built my own PH-16 tube phono stage from Tube4Hifi.com and heavily upgraded it while building it. The PH tube sound is liquid and GLORIOUS!!! It sounds like music.
The BAT VK3 preamp was on my short list as well.
I run Balanced connects from my DAC (Gustard X20u + Xingster SU-1 DCC). I also am cabled with XLRs to the amp as well.
I really wanted a McIntosh C2300 or C2500 but once again...budget.
I also looked into passive preamps but few ever showed up used and the cost new for a good one in the $2k-$4k range.
http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af10/MHzTweaker/KRC-3%20Recap.jpghttp://
http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af10/MHzTweaker/June%2020%20%202016.jpg
I purchased a KRC-3 from eBay in March for roughly $1100 and spent less than $100 for 4 new Neutrik XLRs, 54 Nichicon Muse and ES Audio capacitors from Mouser. The Nichicons are actually an upgrade for this already fine line stage preamp. The orginal KRC-3 cost was $3,000 at introduction and had climbed to $4k by the time it was discontinued. The best way I can describe the "sound" of it is that it has little sound of its own. If the source material has gobs of depth then that is what I hear. The KRC-3 is feeding a McIntosh MC352 amp which powers Martin Logan Prodigy speakers.
A lot of my stuff is used because I want a certain quality but honestly I cannot afford these items new. I built my own PH-16 tube phono stage from Tube4Hifi.com and heavily upgraded it while building it. The PH tube sound is liquid and GLORIOUS!!! It sounds like music.
The BAT VK3 preamp was on my short list as well.
I run Balanced connects from my DAC (Gustard X20u + Xingster SU-1 DCC). I also am cabled with XLRs to the amp as well.
I really wanted a McIntosh C2300 or C2500 but once again...budget.
I also looked into passive preamps but few ever showed up used and the cost new for a good one in the $2k-$4k range.
http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af10/MHzTweaker/KRC-3%20Recap.jpghttp://
http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af10/MHzTweaker/June%2020%20%202016.jpg