I think I want a tube preamp

the quad would be a nice pre for tour system, and there seem to be used ones in mint condition for under $600....its a lot more for your money than the minimax in the sound dept.

I agree with Khaki8!! This preamp is fantastic. I put some NOS tubes in it and it went even further. The dealer, Galen Carol Audio in San Antonio gave me a great price on it and was great fun to work with. The importer, Morningstar Audio Imports, is fantastic for support.

This little jewel just sings. I have had had some well regarded tube preamps in my system, including the Hovland HP-100, and I feel no angst at not having something more expensive.

Give it a try. You can't lose.

I have been doing some reading and the mini max does seem to be quite a bargain, would love to hear it. Two things to be aware of is that it inverts the phase and it has a high output impedance. These are not bad things, but just things you should be aware of when either attemping to match with an amp or are running in a system.

Regards,

Although the MiniMax does invert polarity we have found that it sounds best hooked up normally + to +, - to -. Your mileage may very and you can try and switch the + to -, but others have said they like it hooked up the normal way. I prefer it this way in both my systems.
You never know if the recording engineer recorded the material in phase or not. Does the amplifier invert, CD player? who knows, to many variables.

Thanks for all of your input. I'll have to do more research on the MiniMax. Does anybody know if the Quad 24 has a remote? Not a huge deal, but convenience is an issue. I'm not too worried about polarity inversion, I can't hear it in my room (unless I use headphones, and even then not every time). The high output impedance could be an issue. My Cary amp doesn't have the highest sensitivity. I already have to crank my Linn preamp past it's unity gain to get realistic volume in my small room. A high output impedance preamp would make for an even worse voltage transfer...