I've had a number of tube preamps in the past few years including Hovland, Rogue, Audio Horizons, Lamm and a ARC LS-26. It may be synergy thing with my Bryston monoblocks but my preference is:
1. LS-26
2. Lamm Ref2 (this was my favorite but it just had issues in my system and is out of your price range)
3. Lamm LL2 Deluxe
4. Hovland
5. Audio Horizons
6. Rogue Magnum 99
So its all system dependent for sure. I still the best bang for the buck was Lamm LL2 Deluxe.
I heard the Calypso in a friend's system and it was great except that it was finicky on noisy tubes. Never owned a Cary but a few friend's have and they work very well with Cary amps for sure.
Good luck in your search....
1. LS-26
2. Lamm Ref2 (this was my favorite but it just had issues in my system and is out of your price range)
3. Lamm LL2 Deluxe
4. Hovland
5. Audio Horizons
6. Rogue Magnum 99
So its all system dependent for sure. I still the best bang for the buck was Lamm LL2 Deluxe.
I heard the Calypso in a friend's system and it was great except that it was finicky on noisy tubes. Never owned a Cary but a few friend's have and they work very well with Cary amps for sure.
Good luck in your search....