What's a contender to an Audio Reference 5 SE?

If he thinks a Ref-5 se is a low quality pre-amp. I can't imagine what he would say about my LS-27.

Before upgrading amps I used my Symphonic Line "The Enlightenment" with a Plinius SB-301, and that combo was very nice.

Well first of all, the input impedance of your Plinius amp is 47K Ohms which should be benign to even the weakest tube preamps. In my opinion, with your Plinius amp I would just go for a Vac Renaissance Mk3 & upgrade the tubes. Kevin Hayes has a nice collection of NOS tubes in his own 'Vac store' & is always happy to provide his wealth of knowledge. I think the Vac would be a good match sound-wise & imho, anything more is overkill and I would just buy a killer integrated instead like a Vitus SIA-025, Gryphon Diablo 300 or JRDG Daemon.

@melbguy1 Many thanks for your post, and I was even keeping up with you pretty good, until you started suggesting integrated amps?  I already have an amp.  If I have misunderstood you please forgive me.  Sometimes I'm a bit slow on the uptake.  :-)

When you are aware of what is possible in the world of
highend, you understand the differences in quality.

We work and think by Total Sound. When you can compare
audio tools by their properties it becomes a lot more easy
to compare and understand how good or worse it is.

I miss too many qualities with AR what other tools do a
lot better. These parts are very easy to be heard and
understood.

The only thing you need is comparing and a frame of
reference. Shootouts are one of the most fun parts in
audio. I am addicted to it for over 17 years of time. I
have done thousends of tests form mid level till highend.

It is all about collecting information of each tool we
test. When you focus on the properties a tool owns, you
can create a much higher endresult.

When you are aware of all the properties, you want to use
them all. When we listen to sets of new clients, at shows
or at distributers almost all sets are incomplete. We
always try to explain what is missing.