Dev,
It's great you have a close friend/dealer whom you trust to give advice and there's no reason to think of his opinion as anything but genuine. Knowing some of the circumstances and context for that opinion would be enlightening but no one expects you to share all of that. It's just fwiw.
>>>"I will say that I have found in this hobby is that some seem to have to justify their owning and it's a personality thing,"<<<
Ok, there's no need to belittle anyone's opinion that differs with your dealer.
Everyone has a right to share a first hand opinion here based on experience without you questioning whether it is based on ego or purchase justification.
Using the "My dealer told me..." reasoning makes sense as an excuse to defer or delay your own trial of any product, no quibbles there.
However, using his comments as evidence that anyone who experienced it differently is over-stating their experience or has some furtive motive for doing so is whacked.
Like I said, good for you. Within whatever context your dealer tested the pre-amp in I am sure he was entirely truthful and reported his impressions accurately.
I've said and written this many times. People using different systems, different rooms, various ancillaries and frame of reference can come to different conclusions about a piece of gear and BOTH can be spot on accurate. Or am I over-stating that subjective reality?
The fact that your dealer told you the differences were minor should in NO WAY have you inferring that mine or anyone else's reported experience is not genuinely derived. My system context was explained from soup to nuts as were my impressions and full context. I took care to make sure my comments were accurate and carefully qualified.
Having you drop in with a "dealer friend" who disagrees is no problem and is in fact interesting to know( if there were more context). However, the misplaced bard about people posting positive experiences or reviews of the Ref 5 because they are justifying purchases or on some ego trip is crap.
If you believe that is true in this case, bring more than "a dealer told me..." as your evidence that someone else is being disingenuous.