Solid State Preamp to replace tube unit

I believe the Philps PCC88 tube that I linked earlier (Tube Depot) is/was being sold by c-j.  If I'm not mistaken, I was told the c-j buys that particular tube.  Below is a link from a post on another forum. That was one person's experience with tube rolling with the ET-5.  From what I've read, it is harder on tubes than some of the other c-j preamps.  The tubes in my PV-14L lasted for 10+ years.  I didn't have the Premier 17LS2 long enough to burn through any tubes. 

I am reporting back as promised. The tube I am using is the Philips E88CC, a NOS military tube from the 1960s. Jeff at cj can supply them. They are the best tube overall that I have tried. They sound warmer overall than the EH and hold up just as well. The EH tube is good too, sharper, brighter.
The Gold Lion 6922 sounded great, perhaps the best of all, but it got noisy very quickly.

jimbones

if it has a volume control then should be easy to try it out. take the preamp out of the system. 

I too, got tired of the hassle of tubes. I went with a SimAudio Moon P7. For me, it was a great choice as it checks the boxes of what I like.     

I owned tube preamps for many years. CJ Premier 14, then I moved to Audio Research. My last ARC preamp was the Reference 3 and I loved it, but did not love having to pull it out of my system to change the tubes. 

I found a Pass Labs XP-30 (MSRP $16K) used for about $6K, so I jumped on it. The sound out of this preamp is every bit as clear and musical as the tube preamps. But it is pricey. However, Most people seem to be purchasing the two-piece (mine is a three-piece) Pass preamp for about $10K. Still expensive, but I wouldn't have any concern about buying one used. Pass makes very solid products. 

And I actually must admit that I like the Pass preamp more than the tube preamps I'd fallen in love with. I called my neighbor over to hear it and immediately he commented on the clarity of the new preamp and my system. It's an improvement.

Actually, the early solid-state CJ preamps had mucu of the 3-D quality that CJ is famous for.  In addition, from the old days, the Audionics BT-2 pramplifiers sound was modeled on the tube Audio Research SP-6 line of tube preamps and carries it off very well.  I don't know much about modern SS Preamps, but the Adcom 565II received a very fine recomendation from Anthony Cordesman, one of The Absolute Sound's original (and in my opinion, best) reviewers.