I have owned that preamp (and the Aloia ST13.01 amp) for more than a decade. The amp was retired a few years ago because the caps are passing dc and need replacing but the preamp is still in service.
First, I'll address the negatives. The gold plating on the rca inputs and control knobs is rather fragile and easily wears off in my experience. The lamp bulbs in both amp and preamp touch sensitive on/'off switches burned out a long time ago and I don't see any way to easily replace them. The soft rubbery coating on the fascia becomes a bit sticky with the passage of time as the plasticizers migrate out of the material and attract dirt. I can't speak to the performance of the phono section as mine is a line stage only.
Now the positives. Other than the noted negatives, the construction of the preamp is well executed and workmanship is excellent. The performance is quite elevated as well (I also have a DeHavilland UltraVerve III and PS Audio BHK Preamp in use for comparison.) The Aloia is much more resolving than the DeHavilland. I can't make an exact comparison to the BHK preamp because the BHK is in my much more resolving main system and that runs balanced connections everywhere. The Aloia preamp was designed to complement the sound of the Aloia amps which were on the less aggressive sounding spectrum of solid state amps. I am using the Aloia pre in my second system paired with a Decware Zen Torii II amp, Arcam FMJ cd37 SACD player, KEF R500 speakers, and Shunyata MPC12a power conditioner. I had used the DeHavilland in that system for a long time and recently put the Aloia back into service. I was somewhat surprised at how well it performed and preferred it to the DeHavilland. It has quite a bit more refined treble region than the DeHavilland and no negatives to speak of in that system.
Aloia Audio is long defunct and the circuit boards are populated with sealed/potted components that are unobtanium if a problem develops. Repair/service knowledge is difficult to come by from what I've gathered in my inquiries. I've found that resellers are reluctant to handle them as used equipment because of the lack of brand recognition and repair difficulties. I wouldn't pay very much for one myself for all those reasons. While Aloia made excellent and underrated equipment, they never got much market share and are the equivalent of buying a decades old exotic handmade sports car that needs expensive and hard to come by parts and labor if a problem develops.
