Kurt's made some great fundamental points. FYI if remote control becomes a must have, I'd like to point out that the Ayre's remote is, I believe, a gear driven motor turning attenuators, maintaining the purity of one of the most important components within any preamplifier.
How bout another fly in the ointment? This is a little known brand built personally by the designer. Don't be frightened by the obscurity of its popularity. Many others and myself have owned his work for many years and his support is outstanding. Do a search over at AA, there is one post where this pre is compared with the K1 and a couple of other top tier pre's.
http://www.reflectionaudio.com/
