I know this unit is older than Matuselah, but for those who are interested in starting out with tubes and want a pre....I also had seen 2 units like mine for sale on Audiogon, and one on Ebay.

At the outset, I wasnt very convinced about this preamp,,,I thought the voices were further recessed and that the cymbals, etc, were as well....BUT, I took it to the tech and changed all 6 line stage tubes to RFT 12AT7's from Germany, and it made an impressive difference.

This amp goes looow, great control at all freq. and what strikes me more than anything is that the soundstage just deepens, and it way more 3-D than anything I heard before. And it matches well with my JBL-L96's which are quite revealing and neutral. Even at low volumes the detail and body is ever-present.

They have been on sale for about 700 bucks, Its loaded with features and I think that its probably a bargain. I will be upgrading mine with some new components, given its a early 80's pre.

Oh! my equipment is:

Kinergetics Chiro C200 amp, Berning TF-10 pre, Pararsound CDP-2000 Ultra, and JBL L-96...Vampire Wire IC's (copper), and DH Labs ST-100 hybrid speaker wire.