Audible Illusions M3B or L3

Hi Stereo5. I was reading an old thread you had with Princebaba, a director at Audible Illusions who stated a 3B Line was avalable as exchange for 3A or outright for around $1850 refurbished or also new. I live in the UK and have a 3A which I love, that said, if the 3B is better, how do I get hold of one outright? I don't use the phono stage of my 3A so the line version would be perfect. Thank you. Ian

You can order directly from Audible Illusions.

4+months, in since February?!?!?! Hmm, lets see does this sound familiar?

We're backed up in manufacturing our new product and we had to put repairs and upgrades on hold.

We ran out of the parts needed to complete the work on your unit and it will be a few weeks before our order is filled.

Because our original vendor for those parts went out of business we're looking for another vendor.

We've found another vendor but its going to be at least few weeks before our order is filled but the new parts will be better than the originals.

I'm ashamed to say you're not the first to suffer this flim flam and sadden by the fan boys who turn a blind eye and continue to tout these products. The fact is there are any number of products at this price point that provide a similar level or better performance and support.

Audible Illusions continues to experience long delays in delivering their products. I ordered an M3B in late December 2015, the final payment was solicited (and paid) in late January - when I was told that the preamp was "on the bench" by Jerry at AI. The only thing on the bench, as far as I can tell, was my cash. I feel like I am getting the run around everytime I call AI. I just called AI for the 6th time since ordering the preamp only to be told that they are out of tubes and are waiting for the delivery of Swiss switches and that they have no idea when they are coming in. "But don’t worry you will get your preamp soon." I miss dealing directly with Art Ferris who is a heck of a nice guy and a straight shooter ( as well as and audio engineering genius). I’ve happily owned a Modulus 1, 2 and 3, but I am very close to demanding my money back and buying from the competition. I hear the PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium Preamplifier is pretty good.

You should have spoken with GC Audio in Texas.  He probably had one in stock to sell.  It is definitely well worth the wait but at this point, I would demand my money back.  I posted a "want to buy" here and scored a 6 month old M3B in silver.  I have been using it since 2012 with not even a hiccup or fart from it.  I re-tubed it in 2015 with the AI recommended tubes.  It blows away my previous M3 and M3A preamps.  And no, I'm not a fanboy as I hate the dual stepped volume controls but put up with them because the sound is extremely natural in my system.