Help with Preamp selection


Hello Everyone, I am building a new system and I am having a hard time with selecting a preamp to be paired with my Pass Labs XA-30.5 Class A amp. I am no audio engineer and to be honest I really don't know what to make of all the specifications. I have read where the Pass amp like low input gain from a pre-amp but other than that I am unsure what else to look for. I definitely want a pre-amp with balanced inputs and outputs so I can experience everything the balanced PASS labs has to offer. I am leaning towards solid state vs tubes only because their seems to be more balanced offerings and less maintenance.

My budget is $1000-$2000 for a used or new unit. Here are some of the choices I have been mulling over:
1. Wyred 4 Sound STP SE
2. Lower end Ayre Unit (This is $3500 new but have seen as low as $2K on used market
3. Parasound JC-2 (out of my range even used)
4. Cary Audio SL-100 (New)
5. Audio Research (So many units to choose from would be interested if they are in price range)
6. Jolida Fusion

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly - any recommendations on budget speaker cable and interconnects? I am looking for well made but at a reasonable price. Budget for 10' speaker cables $200-$250 and XLR connectors $100-$150.

Thanks in advance for your responses.
Neil
nmiller1202
JMC, I will definitely let you know how it goes - yes I bought Cerrot's - so glad he chimed in on this thread - really great guy to deal with!
Congrats! You won't be disappointed. Keep us posted as to your experience with it.
Cheers! J.
Thanks Jon - will do. You definitely reinforced my decision. I made an offer on another Ayre k-5 a couple weeks ago but missed out to another higher bidder. I stayed patient but kept researching and you know how it goes you start second guessing yourself. In the end I got the one I wanted at the price I needed. Very happy!
For your budget, you consider Kimber interconnects and speaker cables such as 4TC or 8TC. Here's a good site for knowledge base.

http://www.hifi-advice.com/reviews-Cables-Speaker-Cables.html

Happy listening. J.
Buy an old Counterpoint SA-2000 and send it to me. I will change the preamp so it is better than what you are considering.

Happy Listening.