Amp/Preamp comparisons - Plinius vs Herron, Audible Illusions vs Allnic vs Herron

i have not heard a herron but my understanding his better units are equals to the mid level modern conrad johnson or audio research tube linestages, which are excellent sonically and in build quality

c-j or arc tube unit into a high grade solid state amp can be a wonderful combo

audible illusions is a very good sounding unit, but it fries tubes and gets noisy/hissy wayyy too fast, and customer service can be problematic if needed

plinius’ unit doesn’t belong in this conversation... it is not in the same league

i don't know anything about allnic stuff

I think Plinius SA102 is a better amp than SA100 mk3.

plinius’ unit doesn’t belong in this conversation... it is not in the same league

Are you saying that Plinius is inferior or superior? If it is inferior, Hegel M1A would be a clear upgrade.
Maybe I will go for all Herron solution.

op 

sorry i wasn't clear... i was referring to the plinius preamp

plinius power amps are very nice

Right. I had Plinius CD LAD preamp, and it was also underwhelming. 
The built in phono of M16P is pretty good though.