Every enthusiast has bias’s, preferences and kit. This might generate some controversy (not intended) but here goes: with over four decades in this hobby, and recently converted a number of friends to join, I have heard a lot of systems and preamps (though certainly not all) including: cj pv2a, cat sl1 mkii, arc sp10 mkii, ch precision, etc. but most recently the latest Herron 360 was in my system (hoping for synergy with my herron VTSP-2a phono amp) and sounded fantastic. I recently A/B it with a CJ GAT and couldn’t decide on my preference. That being said, I sold it a month ago in favor of a much, MUCH cheaper alternative which I preferred sonically. That is a DiyAudio korg nutube B1 with modifications. A number of years ago, I was fortunate to meet Nelson Pass at his place and listened to various FirstWatt and Pass components. He made a change in the kit we were listening to and I was stunned- It was the precursor to the Nutube B1. I have been playing around modifying the B1 build and have landed on my current reference. A B1 with an outboard linear power supply, 6 high end caps (jupiter, mundorf and clarity) and taking as many switches (eg- on/off switch out of the circuit) because the Lps provides that and the nutube biased around 10.2 vdc. Total cost around $750. Rest of the system is a VPI TNT w/ 12” arm, zyx cart and pre-pre, herron phono, nutube B1, CJ Premier 11xs (triode) and spatial X4’ modded to 16ohm.Couldn’t be more pleased. I know DIY is not for everyone, and I am no EE, but an interesting alternative for the adventurous. Thanks for reading.