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Simaudio P5 or Conrad Johnson ET5

I currently have the CJ 17LS and like it a lot but I do feel like it may be the bottle neck in my system.  Therefore I am looking to replace with something that can provide better detail and dynamic.  The ET5 seems like a natural candidate but its weakness is that it does not offer balance connection which in itself could be the bottleneck.  The P5 is a two chassis design and has the sound somewhere between tube and solid state.  
The P5 used would be around 2K and the ET5 would probably around 4K or a bit less if I am lucky.
My current amp is Simaudio Moon W3.  The DAC is Ayre QB-9 DSD.

What are some of the alternatives with about the same price?
andy2
1graber2's avatar
1graber2
303 posts
 
There are a lot of great preAmps in that price range. 
But ive had the P-5, and it’s quite a bargain at $2k, 
 because of how good the detail and soundstage is
pops
2,278 posts
 
Can’t say enough about my ET5.  Open, spacious, dynamic and crystal clear.  Teflon capacitors make a huge difference over previous CJ preamps.    

I have not heard the  Sim.      
andy2 OP
1,584 posts
 
Thanks for the responses.  I really want to buy the ET5 but I feel like its lacking of balance connections may present a problem down the road.  A couple of more candidates are the SimAudio P7 and Ayre K-5xe.  Although I have not heard these but knowing their sound, the Ayre K-5xe probably will be slightly more cooler sounding vs. the P7.
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