Preamp upgrade

Thanks for the responses. I would say the audible illusions was recommended to me many years ago when I bought the Ls-7. At that time I was looking at a 3a. The 3b is still a contender. I do actually appreciate the warmth and bloom of the ls7. I think the true exercise here is what is the degree of audible “improvement” from the Ls7 that cost 550.00 to any of the mentioned tube preamps that will cost 3K to 6K on the used market which equates to 6-12 times more cash spent for what percentage of true performance increase.  I’ve a it plain better at that cost? 

@jelliott78 the increase in performance when upgrading a preamp depends on how good the upstream and downstream components are. LS7 was an OK preamp when it was new but there’s a reason why ARC made several more models up from it. The Ref 3 will crush it if there’s synergy with the rest of the system.
Matching preamp to the rest of the system is never a plug and play type deal unless you’re buying same brand/line components.

I would say my upstream and downstream components are quite good.I totally understand that there isn’t any plug and play options in reward tomorrow choices. However the question is there going to be reasonable gains for spending 6-12 times what I paid for the LS7. Define crush? Is that a 5 percent 10 percent gain crease for the money? 

I kept my Cary SLP98-F1 and sold my two AR preamps.

What AR preamps did you own?