Good tube preamp with Sony 5400

+1 on Thor Audio preamp. I heard it in a friends system. Competes with 5-10k preamps. I would happily live with it in place of my VAC Ren III preamp if I had to.

:) I won't be selling it that soon. I think a year is a more appropriate length of time to keep for me to something and get a feel for it. Wish I could help but don't have any experience with any of those preamp manufacturers' products in one system to comment. I'm sure someone will be able to offer a comparison, though. Lots of people on here who have owned lots of preamps. Good luck in your search. And let me know if you want me to remind you of this if I see you looking for any gear after you solve your preamp situation:

"this will be my last purchase for a while."

:)

What are the characteristics of Thor preamps?

I just read that Thor audio was sold a while back and a new line is scheduled for release next year.

McPherson: I have been a Thor Audio owner ( amps and linestage ) for many years and have happily dealt with both original owner Paul Marks and the new onwers Ted and Jordan (Ted was a Thor dealer for Paul)ThorAudio may not be the most popular name in audio but certainly one of the top quality sounding ( and well built ) units around..Since being sold the Thor products have been improved so much it very hard to describe just how much better they sound..Right now the best bargain in audio ( in my opinion ) is an Original used Thor piece sent back and cleaned up an have the latest upgrades..You will end up with a World class sounding piece for less than half the cost of a " Big Name " company...
Sound : Sweet Open,Gorgeuos midrange,Incredibly Transparent with excellent bass energy..With the latesT V/cap upgrades,you also have the option of going with The Copper or Teflon type Caps to boot...