What did you get after the Minimax pre ?

I'd wager that it's a case of 'the grass is greener..'. After a time every restless audiophile needs to experience the actual giant instead of the 'giant killer'.

Price, ego and 'what if?' seem to go hand in hand -- the lower the price of one thing the higher the curiosity of more expensive gear, despite what it may actually sound like. I'm guilty of it -- sold a Rogue Audio Metis (list ~$1000) to buy something more expensive, though in a blind test with gear 2-3x more expensive I may have very well picked the Rogue, and wouldn't have been surprised.

My feeling is price psychologically factors into how we perceive something sounds like. I wonder if the minimax was priced 2x or 3x its actual cost that there would be as many sell backs.

If you're happy, as has been said over and over here like an AA meeting, get over it, take pride out of the equation and enjoy what you hear.

- Edit - my last sentence sounded preachy, not my intent. Shouldn't have said it. Everyone here says it, everyone wants to believe it... but not everyone buys it

Here's my story. I bought a new Minimax way back in 06 or 07 and sold it like you said after one year. I played with another highly regarded preamp and couldn't get used to it. It was slacking the slam of the Minimax that I enjoy. To make a long story short, I sold the replacement and went back to the Minimax, the updated version, and i've been very happy ever since.