Recommend The Best No Frills Preamp up to $5K.

Wyred4Sound STP SE. Natural uncolored sound.

Consider a used McIntosh C2200 preamp.  I've had mine for 15 years and absolutely love it.  Good prices now used is an added benefit.  easy to tweak with tube rolling and dampers.  It uses moderately- priced 12AT7 and 12AX7 tubes in both the preamp and tube amp sections.  With the money you save over your price limit you can easily invest in NOS Telefunken tubes; highly recommended!

Also, I strongly recommend using the high-end tube dampers from Herbies Audio Lab online that will noticeably improve Any tube audio application.

Rogue RP-7

I'm vinyl only too and went through this process not too long ago. I landed on the EAR 868. Outstanding. End game for me. 

In that $5Gs range, you might be able to pick up an Audio Research Ref 5SE, which is a very nice preamp.  If you can find some 6H30P-DR NOS tubes at a reasonable cost, get them quick!  Go to an ARC dealer and see if he'll let you audition it at home.  Be sure to let it warm up, and give it a fair amount playing time before passing final judgements.  Happy hunting.  :)