Whats a good tube preamp?

Of all the ones you mentioned the CJ 16LS is by far the best. I have not personaly heard, but I'm told it is 90-95% of the $17,000 CJ ART. It will offer you more resolution & detail than the others along with that uncomprimised magical midrange that CJ is so famous for. Of course it's not cheap to buy or retube. On the used market you'll find them going for around $4,200.00. One you did not mention & you may want to consider is the Joule Electra LA-100 MK111. I know it will kill all but the CJ 16LS. It will offer the same amount of resolution, detail & 3 dimemtion that the CJ does, but is maybe just a tad warmer. You may prefer this with your particular speakers because they are so revealing to begin with. In additon, you can pick up a Joule for a fraction of what the CJ will set you back. I seen them on the used market from anywhere to $1400-$1900 range. Just make sure it's a MK111. Good luck & happy listening.

I must comment on what some are saying about CJ having colored sound. After owning several models (PV-8, PV-12AL & familiar with the PV-5 , Premeir-14, the 16LS),yes indeed the older models were quite colored, but not the new ones. In fact many CJ lovers prefer the older models & find the newer models to be bright sounding, when they are in my opinion much more nuetral sounding offering a much higher level of resolution, transparency & 3 dimention. I think you would be hard pressed to find a better more nuetral & transparent sounding preamp than the 16LS. Not to mention the synergy it would have with your Premier 11A.

Asa you obviously know JOULE. It's really a sleeper & earns it's reputation purley by word of mouth. I found out about JOULE through a friend. Someone who's owned the BAT's, CAT's, ARC's, CJ's & just insisted I listen to the JOULE. Long story short, I own a JOULE ELECTRA LA 200 MKIII & prefer it over all of the above. Guess what my amp is Avguygeorge...You got it, the CJ Premier 11A. Their a great match although I'm seriously thinking about replacing it with a pair of JOULE VZN 100 OTL's (I figure if the preamps that good, the amp must be a killer too). Asa, the reason I recommend the MKIII is because it matches up better with most amps. The MKII is pretty much sonically the same, however it had difficulty driving amps with a 50K or less input impedance (they wouldn't play loud at all) Anyway, Jud corrected that with the MKIII. Your comment on name reconition is a good point. Altough JOULE has been around for 10 years, most audiophiles don't know about them, but if you read carefully you'll find they are a stand out at most of the shows. Well Avguygeorge, I think atleast two of us recommend the JOULE. In my opinion it is the best sounding not to mention the prettiest by far (if you care about looks). Second choice would be the CJ. My least favorite is the ARC (sorry ARC lover's).

Ops...I just realized, my comments to Avguygeorge should actually be addresed to Thonepile. Sorry.