Reality has intruded on things in a big way, as it has a habit of doing. What started out as an equipment rack search and a hypothetical preamp search all but turned into an actual preamp search, and now will, perhaps, change again.
A friend of long acquaintance found herself in a deep financial quandry, and reached out to me for help (quite possibly she had nowhere else to go, based upon my knowledge of her general circumstances). I helped her with a loan of $3,000 last weekend. I know I won't get this back all at once or quickly, and there are repercussions to my audio (and perhaps other) plans.
Being $3K lighter in the wallet, my first thought was to get a C48 and be done, as it's the least expensive alternative and would give me what I want; $6000 for a C2300 makes less sense now, even if I audition and prefer it. But I could go forward with those auditions and if the C2300 really floats my boat, wait until my circumstances are more favorable and go for it (that could take a while). Or, all things considered, spending this kind of money doesn't make a lot of sense now, so I could go back to my original premise of replacing/upgrading my TV console. While this seems most sensible, there's no guarantee I'll follow through.
