Well, I love the Joule. I have sold the Placette; which in no way means the Joule is better than the Placette - it was and is a great preamp, but with my amp and speakers, and my ears, I like the more fleshed out sound provided by the tubes in the pre. Have no idea which is more accurate, doesn't really matter, it works for me and my taste. And, while the Joule was a nice change for me, what really made a great difference was changing the stock tubes in the CAT amp to NOS Amperex and RCAs - had no idea...