Which is REALLY the best Conrad Johnson Preamp

I know it's no GAT but my new c-j Classic 2 SE is quite special. My system has never sounded so good....

I really like Spearit....those guys have been great to deal with, whether new or used, or even trade in,  plus you can often take a demo home to try.   I bought my Classic 2SE  there,   they are one of my favorite in Mass

Speaking of tubes , the Gold Lion 6922 has been great, only tube to last more than a year in it.   I just put a a NOS Phillips / Mazda  ecc88 tube in it and I am really loving the sound.  

I have to say this about the Classic 2 SE, it was the single most noticeable upgrade ever in any of my systems over the years.  I've had a number of very good preamplifiers over the years and this unit walks all over them in terms of sound quality .   Zero listening fatigue with this pre,  I can and often do listen for hours on end.   

This unit gets looked down upon due to lack of remote, but it is all about the sound with this pre.      It's a complete 180 compared to some of my previous preamplifiers.   No balance control or tone controls,  just a power switch, a source selector, and a volume knob....that's  it.      It's a sleeper that will probably get passed over due to its lack of remote which is too bad....  

Nice!  Cost?