Replacing my MFA Luminescence B2 preamp

@ledoux1238 OK- keep in mind the comparisons won't be fair if your preamp doesn't have the benefit of a properly running power supply.

I think part of the fascination with the Lumi comes from the fact that it uses lots of octal tubes (5692 and 5691) and because of that people tend to think it must sound big and bold (whatever that means), which is not the case with this preamp.  

Even in its day, it was sonically outclassed by the like or Mark Levinson ML-7A (which continues to sound great even compared to the latest ML preamps), ARC SP-10 MK2, CJ Premier 7, Jadis, JP-80, etc.  

That said, to me the MFA MC Reference is the greatest full function preamp ever made.  It used a combination of 6922s and 12AX7s with a GZ37 rectifier tube in the power supply. There were only a dozen or so sold before the company folded so it's as rare as a hen's teeth.  I've seen a couple of dubious looking prototypes being sold as a MC Reference but they had octal tubes like the Lumi and can't imagine them sounding anything close to what the real production version MCR does.

Well, that's just like...your opinion, man.

I just read up on  AR SP10, SP11, ML-7a, and CJ Premier 7 through a series of Stereophile reviews. All reference level preamps from mid-80’s to early 90’s vintages. 

 If @jafox ‘barely preferred’ the AR SP 10 over the Lumi, then it should belong to an same elite group.  Lumi being ‘outclassed’ by the above preamps, may be an over-statement by @opus111 ? Although I have read/heard from several sources that  the Jadis JP-80 was a  class above the rest.

The comparisons have to be understood in the context at what was available at the time I heard the Lumi vs. the SP10.  The SP11 had just come out and the SP10 was on its way out.  I preferred the SP10 over the SP11.  As I recall, it was somewhat of a 50/50 split as to which was preferred over the other.  Notice I don't use the word, "better".

CJ's top preamp at the time I recall was the Premier 3 which I did not care for as its frequency extremes were even less extended than the SP10's.  The Premier 7 came along a couple years after my preamp quest.  The 7 was significantly higher cost than the others above....way out of my price point.

The Lumi's bass was a new experience for me with a tube preamp.  That low frequency foundation can really make a difference to the musical performance.  But so did the outstanding dynamic contrasts of the SP10 which added that excitement and showed the compression brought on by the Lumi.  This was a time (mid 80s) when we all had to decide one set of pros and cons of one product vs. another.  Three decades later have brought on a ton of refinements to SS and tube preamps.  But even today, the top SS preamps don't do 3D like the top tube products do, especially those with tube rectified power supplies.

Products like the Klyne 6/7 series, Spectral DMC 10 as I recall and the Krell PAM3 that I compared at the time all had more frequency extreme coverage than the SP10t.  Te SP11 was breaking new ground here but to me some of the "magic" had been lost.  The solid state products compared here were all too sterile for me.  And after reading all the outstanding praise on the ML38s, and hearing for myself how horrible this product was in the mid 90s vs. the ARC LS5 and CJ Premier 14, I can't imagine how any ML product previously made by Mark or later by Madrigal could even begin to compete with the above tube products in the context of spatial rendition.  One reviewer even replaced his SP10 with the 38s!  That was just insane for me to imagine.

Comparing the JP-80 is silly here as this too came years later.  Inclusion of this would require one to bring on all the great tube preamps that followed the Lumi and SP10/11.  I would put my current preamp, Aria WV5 XL with the Hashimoto HM7 step-up transformers up against any version of the JP-80 and not be surprised if the JP-80 was "outclassed".

I would not put too much weight on the "best of" lists by Arthur Salvatore as I have compared many of his highly-praised products and walked away with, "huh?".

Oh, and one more thing, as you have Von Gaylord amplifiers, you owe it to yourself to try the VG line stages.  These are simply, OUTSTANDING!  If the Aria blew up tomorrow, the VG 2 or 3 would be the first product I would bring home to drop in my system.