Hello from Chicago

I have to say, this is the first upgrade in my system that has been an instant winner -- at least since I traded in my AV receiver and cheap speakers for a serious attitude in HiFi dabbling. 

(I say a serious *attitude* because I'm still at the lower tier of the totem pole, gear-wise. But I care and know more than I did previously.)

Being a starving artist type, I've only really dabbled in lower cost pre-amps -- boutique; vintage; mysteriously cheap ones of distant provenance. And each swap has typically found me *trying* to like the new piece of kit, rather than actually responding to it. But sooner or later, some aspect of the sound -- usually lackluster cymbals -- got under my skin. I was beginning to think I couldn't be happy with my listening anymore.

The Gram Amp has been a revelation. It's been like a glass of water on a hot day or something. It just sounds good.

And I'm at the bottom of the Graham Slee line! 

It can get better than this?!