Conrad Johnson 18LS pre-amp line stage vs CJ ET3 pre-amp tuner:.Best sound quality?

Thanks guys.  There are approx. five ET3's on sale 5 on ebay and  1  on Audiogon,  I was able to find three reviews on the ET3, and all praised the product.  However, my main concern after looking at the back of the pre-amp is:  will it accommodate a headphone box, and most importantly a quality phono box like a Lehrmann, or Graham Slee 2SE MM phono pre-amp, or a Moon 110LP MM/MC  phono-pre-amp (currently on sale on Music Direct for $399,  or at  the very least a Bellari VP130 which is MM stage and also offer a head amp, that would kill two birds with one stone in one box  because I need both features,  However, I never considered the Bellari  a quality product ,regardless of its use of a one tube output stage.   The reviews I read on ET3 all agreed that "SE" version is the best and the one to own ....(I forget if any of  the six ET3 available for sale mentioned above are the "SE" .

The older and used LS18 pre-amp line stage is reselling for much less money, but also has too many HT featurers. Check out the ad  currently on AG, the last pix in the ad is incentive enough to buy!!!!

BTW, would either of you be  familiar with Van Alstine pre-amp line stage;   the SL Vision pre-amp and  his just released, Transcendence 10TR; 

I was unexpectedly advised by a AG member to go for the VA's $1899 pre-amp  which he claims is far superior in sound quality, and to avoid the lower priced models I just cited .He claims he heard them at a recent audio show, and they both in his opinion sounded "awful"   Thanks,  Jim