Tube pre-amps $3500 under to add "warmth"

>>you might ask, why haven't i singled out one of these products as worthy of my attention.<<

You listed some very good equipment. Perhaps you are unrealistic in your expectations and/or your listening skills need refining.

its not that my expectations are unrealistic, or my hearing is deficient, because i visted these rooms with three other people and our observations concurred most of the time.

the problem is that manufacturers are attempting to design very linear components. unfortunately components are not perfect. there are flaws. the flaws usually comprise extra energy in the upper midrange/lower treble which create timbral inaccuracy.

Mrtennis, maybe the room acoustics or partnering equipment and cables were not optimal. Not quite sure why you would want a "syrupy" sound, and my guess is you would tire of it. Try the Atma-Sphere, it just sounds right, and it is fun to listen to. The only sure way is to try the stuff in your own system. Good luck. I have been having a similar problem finding a SS pre to live with.

Mr. Tennis, have you auditioned a Jadis JPL? That might be the sort of thing you're looking for (or, even better, a Jadis JP80 or JPS2 line stage). Jadis is very natural sounding on recordings of acoustic instruments. From my limited auditoning, I'd say that Shindo Labs preamps might also be worthwhile hearing as well.

Mrtennis: Are you after a line stage or a full-function preamp? For older models of the extra-warm persuasion in the $1k range, consider the CJ Premier 10 for the former and the ARC SP-8 for the latter. Both of these models may have lacked many refinements at the frequency extremes, low-level resolution and dynamics of today's models, but the mids from each were glorious.