Hello Fishfood. The L1 is excellent. I like the fact that it is one box and there is separate gain control plus a master volume control. There’s a lot of functionality with his preamp and it is a steal on the used market if you can find one.
It does not sound as good as the LL1 signature. That four box unit is the best preamplifier I’ve had in my system. The two sound very similar, but the LL1 is quieter. Both are extremely natural sounding. The bass quality is slightly more nuanced and I think extended in the LL1.