Yes I know what you mean, Martin, and to a degree you're right.

However, at this stage the only extra costs I've incurred are about £1 for the two series metal-film resistors installed. Once the Z-Foils (or whatever) are fitted, then I'll be out a bit more money (those, for example, are £15 each, so £30 for the Z-foils alone).

That's still piss all, in the grand scheme of things, in the context of a £30k system.....

If before I had embarked on this journey, with a passive preamp, someone had said to me 'Marco, spend £600-odd quid and you'll end up with an utterly stunning sound, and better than you've ever had before', I'd have snapped their hands off!

Remember too, that the Goldpoint now, 'as is', is outperforming the Croft, on line-level! So you've got a £600 passive (including import duty and tax) sonically outperforming a £4k valve preamp. I'd call that a result, no? If that's not high SPPV, what is?

Marco.