If you haven't had a tubed pre in your system before, it's kind of hard to tell whether you'd like one or not--some don't, many do. I say go for it. Worst case scenerio is that you don't like it and have to sell it at little or even no loss. When I added a tubed pre to my system (CJ 10al), I did so because I wanted to enhance my analog gear, but it was my cdp that benefitted the most. The CJ made my cdp sound like analog--a good thing. Have fun and enjoy.