$5000.00 To Spend Looking for Tube Pre-Amp

I have heard good things about Thor over the years. Did not realize it had new ownership....

Dragon, the latest Dude with Dueland cast capacitors is in another league from even the previous generation of Dudes. I experienced that transition.

As for the CLS comparison, that was in a Coincident system, so synergy cannot be ignored. Either way, HEAR it for yourself.

For a bedroom, background music system, this seems like overkill. Get a decent integrated.

Conrad Johnson should be on your short-list.
These pre-amps play well (no pun) w/ SS power amps.

Happy Listening!

There is a used LS 27 listed right now for $4700. According to ARC it surpases the performance of the Ref 3. Particularly if your system is balanced, the LS 27 represents a strong contender in your price range.

While this may not be a concern to you, but consider the resale of ARC. At $4700 if it didn't fit your needs you're out very little.

FWIW if you can get rid of the caps at the output of any preamp it will sound better. 'Better'= more bass extension, more transparent, less coloration.

So far the only preamp mentioned that has no coupling cap (or transformer) at its output is one of the preamps in the original post.