Looking to upgrade my preamp - suggestions?

Have you considered mods to your current pre-amp? I was at a similar point with my system last fall. I felt my Jadis DPL needed to be stepped up to a JPL. At the suggestion of my cable supplier I contacted Bob and Gary at RHB Sound Dezign. http://www.rhbsounddezign.com
They took my stock DPL to a level I thought I would never be able to reach. Due to these mods, everything that you described your looking for in your new pre-amp, mine now has and much more. Specifically, there new dynamic linearty tube supporting circut. This is unique only to RHB. Give them a call and they will explain it to you in greater detail. Cheers!

I have a Shrimp as a secondary (backup) preamp. In my system the Shrimp is punchy, exuberant, and certainly not laid back. Compared to the VAC Renaissance it does lack bass weight and impact. It also lacks some of the spacing, refinement and soundstage of the VAC. I a/b'd the Shrimp against the ARC SP16 which was thin/lean and had an annoying stepped volume control. The bass of the Shrimp killed the ARC. Looking at photos of your system, I would suspect some setup and room treatment might be money better spent. I would not lay all your problems on the Shrimp. Note: I purchased my Shrimp as a demo and they could not find the stock cord so I have always used it with a Nordost Brahma plugged into a Nordost Thor. So, you could try a different cord.

Yes, Im sure room treatment would help too, but I am pretty limited in what I can/will do there as I am in a NYC rental apartment. Certainly the room layout is far from ideal. The speakers in my system are designed for tight front wall setups and for listening I cover up the TV with a heavy wool blanket which helps some. Side walls are completely uneven (the side wall opposite the sofa is a built in kitchen) so no point trying to treat just 1 wall. On cords and other things I have experimented a bit. Replaced the 12AT7s with Telefunken ECC801s which made a big difference over the OEM tubes. Im sure the room is 50% of the problem though - no arguement there.

Latinsamba1, I thought the following information would be something interesting now that you mentioned you like Connie-J and ARC gear.

Mike Wright, a reviewer on the website stereotimes, wrote the following regarding the Eklipse's performance compared with CJ ACT2 preamp. "During the time that I had the Eklipse in my system, I also had on hand the ACT2 Series 11(He mentions three other preamps). The ACT2 was the class of the bunch with the Eklipse a step below it. But when I put RCA clear top tubes in the Eklispe, it bested the competitors, including the CJ ACT2. I had a lot of listening sessions with friends over this period of time, and each reached the same conclusion.

Don't get me wrong, I was in serious lust for the ACT2 and, up to that point, was prepared to call it the best preamp to ever grace my listening room. But the Eklipse eclipsed(pardon the pun)the ACT2's performance, and at less then a third of the price to boot. The amount of realism and lifelike dynamics, and the ability to communicate the music was a step beyond what the other preamps on hand were doing."

I also auditioned a ARC Ref3 in my system and found, for me, the Eklipse the better sounding preamp for almost $7000.00 less. The Eklispe is not the worlds greatest preamp, but offers performance way above its price point.

If your concerned about resale value, they sell almost as soon as someone puts them on the GON. So, unless your heart is set on either a Connie J or ARC piece you still might consider an audition.

Not even close: Shindo Augieres line stage, $2.2K used, sell some of your JPS wire and get a matching Shindo IC, $350 used when you can find it, look at some Kondo copper speaker cable, $500 for 8ft/pr...that will put you on the next level.