Classical: you´re right. The modded Ayre is still a great pre but I can´t help it - I´m on the merry go round and as you know from my threads my fave is and was Nagra PL-L which I didn´t take first hand for several reasons (design, silly cable access, price tag, cable sensitivity). My modded K-5xe is (and has proved to others) to be superior to the Calypso and a few other designs up to US $ 5.000,00 retail like Pass X 2.5 and X 1. But on the longrun I´m looking for a mixed tube solid state set-up. In a first step I´ll now mix the V-5xe with a Nagra PL-L. Some of my next attempts will be Boulder 810/ 1060 or 865 with APL modded (tubed) Esoteric UX-1 and Ayon Eagle. I think then I´m realy done.
BAT VK-51 SE vs. CAT SL-1 U.MK II vs. Nagra PL-L
Has anybody compared the latest iterations of the above mentionned tubed pre´s ? On my short list are VTL 6.5 as well as Hovland HP-200 (the new balanced version). Any useful commet (dealers commets as well) is highly appreciated as I intend to replace my current pre with one of the above metionned soon.