"Unfortunately no local dealers so can't listen to any of these. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!"
The single biggest mistake you can make in audio, is to pick the wrong preamp.
"Would like to have balanced outputs since I have those cables."
That's not a good enough reason to buy a balanced preamp. And that's assuming your balanced cables are really balanced.
Some people will recommend a tube preamp, while others will tell you to get SS. Others will recommend balanced, while others will say its a waste of money. Feedback vs 0 feedback... And the list will go on. My recommendation is to just get the right preamp, regardless of design. If not, your system will never sound quite right, and you'll end up spending a lot of money, only to walk away from audio due to frustration.
The single biggest mistake you can make in audio, is to pick the wrong preamp.
"Would like to have balanced outputs since I have those cables."
That's not a good enough reason to buy a balanced preamp. And that's assuming your balanced cables are really balanced.
Some people will recommend a tube preamp, while others will tell you to get SS. Others will recommend balanced, while others will say its a waste of money. Feedback vs 0 feedback... And the list will go on. My recommendation is to just get the right preamp, regardless of design. If not, your system will never sound quite right, and you'll end up spending a lot of money, only to walk away from audio due to frustration.