Best pre-amp with a C-J Premier 11a Amp

How about an Audible Illusions line stage?

The 3A was a cracker in it’s day Ron, but the gain?? you will be down around 8-9 o’clock for big volume, it has over 18db of line gain, you hardly need any, and 3A's eat tubes, they run them hard.

I say, try the Schiit Freya, you can always send it back, if you don’t like it.

Cheers George

I used a cj premier 16lsII with a cj 11a and it was an excellent combination. You can't go wrong with a cj pre mated to a cj amp as system synergy will not be an issue and cj makes one of the finest pre-amps in the business.

Chuck 

CJ premier 16lLS has 26dB gain, relatively high but somewhat normal for CJ preamps. I wonder how much of the volume range you’re able to use before reaching ear splitting levels.
By the way, Schiit Saga might be a good option @$350 as well given it’s unity gain.

would agree with georgehifi, the 3A can sound good but is a pita to use. and those vol controls always get noisy over time.

I used to have a Prem 11a, ran it with the 3A, and a few others. Last pre I used with it was the PL Dialogue premium, which was a good match.

on the prem 11a, be sure to roll in some Shuguang nature sound outputs. they really brought the 11a to life.

Great suggestions. Thanks to all who took the time to share their thoughts. Will let all know when I decide😛