If you play vinyl, a Hovland with the phono card is a killer combination and this is coming from a guy who owns the Cary. I use to own the Hovland HP100 and it was also stunning. You can't go wrong with either pre IMHO.
Hovland HP 200 vs. Cary SLP 05
Any thoughts on which preamp (Hovland HP 200 vs. Cary SLP 05) is more suitable for a system of Krell FPB 200c driving Dynaudio Contour S3.4's ? Previous pre was Krell KRC which was too neutral for me. I'm looking for more tube dimensionality and warmth. Both cost about the same 2nd hand I think and have balanced inputs and outputs which I need. The drawback with the Hovland is that the company is now defunct.