which preamp

I own the Audio Horizons. I play vinyl and CD's which sound wonderful. My amp is Mac 352, my CD player is Audio Research CD3 MkII and the speakers are Tyler Acoustics Signature. My Audio is not the fully tricked out model but I put it against a Audio Research Ref 2 and chose the Audio. All in all, I am quite happy. Hope this helps. Steve

"thinking of buying a tube preamp,have it down to,"

How did you narrow it down to those 2 preamps? What did those 2 do right that made you pick them over other choices? Knowing that would help in making recommendations.

I wish I could hear these preamps,but I can not, until I get the one I decide on in my system, I want a true balanced pre and from the reviews that I have read on different forums, on price and performance these 2 preamps seem to compare to preamps costing much more money also some may have more options etc.I don"t need them, I want a 3D soundstage, tight base, clean clear highs not a forward in your face soundstage, both of these preamps costing close to the same $6200 to $6800, and both are direct purchase from the manufacture

What other people say about these preamps really isn't all that relevant. If you get something without listening to it first, you're far more likely to fail than succeed. The preamp is the most important component to get right. If not, you'll just go crazy trying to fix your system.

I agree the audio horizons has a in home addition,I have heard the McIntosh C2300 preamp, has a nice soundstage, lite on bottom and top end, but is not a true balanced preamp, hard to find dealers who have tube preamps to hear and compare