After a full day of running and full warm up, I am impressed. My Job Pre2 is a steal and at $1200 delivered, a superb value. I'm using it with my Triodes and it's performing great. Low gain like I wanted with RCA's. Just a great no nonsense preamp. I do think the STP-SE is a touch smoother than the Pre2, but it takes more volume to open up and wake up. It's funny, the more we get into this stuff, I realize that different gear has its own sweet spot. I do a majority of listening at low volume and the Pre2 works great. I have a feeling at more spirited listening, the STP-SE and especially the Stage II upgrade would be amazing and certainly better.
The Pre2 is more Hi-Fi than audiophile.