Rogue 66. I have this tube preamp and it rips. Extremely detailed and fast, but smooth. Demos with warranty go for about $800. I auditioned it against the BAT 3VKi (which only offers balanced connections) and chose the Rogue. I recently demoed the 99 against the BAT and it blew the BAT out of the water. I now lust for a 99, but those run about $1900 for warranty. The 66 LSR comes with a great aluminum remote (no phono, if you choose the remote). BAT charges $500 for their remote. Rogue products offer tremendous bang for the buck, plus they respond well to tube rolls - I upgraded my tubes to some NOS Mullards and was rewarded with even better sound.
Preamp new/used under $900
Hey...I have a Rotel 971, NAD 314 (used as a pre), Classe Audio Seventy, and a pair of Hales Rev. twos. I don't want a pre that is warm, soft or laidback sounding. I would like the system to stay neutral erring on the side of cool. A pre that can help resolve very dense/processed electric guitar like Ministry would be super cool. Right now the dense music sounds a little mushy. right now im dense and little mushy too. A big soundstage is also a priority, but im not sure if preamps in this price range will vary much in that respect. Thanx ..im tired and hope at least half of the sentences make sense.