Help, which preamp to buy from my shortlist?

“11-21-2021 1:23am

Avoid the Meitner PA-6.

a friend’s Meitner PA-6 failed, unrepairable RC circuitry rendered it a $$$$ paper weight! He loved the SQ but...”

Surprised to hear this as John Wright does repairs on the Meitner/Museatex gear and was easily reachable when I had questions about my Museatex. The PA6 to my knowledge was Meitner’s first preamp

For the price EAR 864 is a versatile pre-amp with very good phono stage, tape capable, ample inputs.  Tube rolling is preferred with NOS 12AX7s (1 12AU7) tubes (but only 5 total) easily obtainable.  It's my back-up pre-amp I purchased in 2005.  Phono section loves many cartridges including Dynavector (not Benz) as it has a pre-set low output phono impedance.  Great for MMs.  

About 5 years ago a woman I bought some albums from like 80s Rock they were her uncles and they were moving .She then called me back and wanted to know if I wanted her uncles stereo equipment  Free...I went back and it was all Nakamichi equipment. It was like filthy one piece was that Nakamichi Ca5...I wanted it ,but she said you had to take it all.There were big speakers and other Nakamichi equipment, but i passed it was really dusty and filthy...and I passed ...oh,well.

Try a good passive preamp… IME, it will embarrass most active units. A TVC or autoformer is best sounding. Transformer based preamps will matchup well with most components, impedance wise. 
passive not for everyone.. but when matched properly, they simply get out of the way of the music..  subjective of course, but they also measure quite well. 

Many great choices out there.. enjoy !