Pre-amp upgrade time?

Cary SLP 05.

My friend has the arc5se.

It was pretty much a tie, we compared it in the same system and the same time.

If you truly want something special as I have done and others 
check out a Direct Heated Triode preamplifier transformer coupled and fully regulated . Using a quality pair of 45 tubes, and 6ax4 rectifier tubes 
Lundahl transformer based withseperate power supply .  Every bit as good 
if not better to the Battery-capacitor Rosse Lio,which is almost $9500 now ? which BTW  can be ordered use several different tube types 
but the 45 is known for its depth and realism ,and noise floor well below
1%.  In the $6k range  This will compete without question the best of them. 
This is what a single ended preamp is all about .it will pick up detail like no other
i am working on having another one built  which can be built for $2k less  in one chassis ,and still unbeatable in its price class . Look up Radu Tarta .he  has been working with DHT ,and tube amps for  close to 40 years. Best of luck.

Linear Tube Audio MZ2-S preamp. Transformerless, deigned by David Berning. The most transparent pre I've ever heard.

I second the Shiny Eyes 4P1L tube preamp from Radu Tarta! I had mine made with a custom TKD remote volume pot. Very reasonable in cost and very well made.

http://http//www.hificollective.co.uk/potentiometers/tkd-2cp-2511-mc-motorised-potentiometer.html

http://https//simplepleasuretubeamps.wordpress.com/products/

ether

The Sony Hap-Z1ES has 2.1v output from a 230ohm source a great match for a 10kohm passive such as the $49 Shiit Sys, and you can return it if you don’t like it. And you’ll have plenty of gain with the AR amp, and it’s got input impedance of a very high 300kohms another great match for a passive.

Nelson Pass:
" We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.

Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.

Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.

What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.

And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp."

Cheers George