Need suggestions on preamp

If you are lucky enough to find Muse balanced preamp it may bring you desired results. You can also look into more easily available Bryston preamps like BP25 Using balanced inputs is encouraged for Parasound!

Check out the Van Alstine preamps. If you want tubes the 10 RB. If you want SS the Vision RB. BTW, I doubt you would do better within your budget !!

Analog Preamplifiers – Audio by Van Alstine (avahifi.com)

DeHavilland Ultraverve or Mercury both available on US Audiomart.  Tube roll to tailor the sound to your liking.  Point to point wiring and very well made. 

Has anyone heard any of the Audio Research stuff? I think I need something with a really nice black background that will let the little micro details shine through. Looking into the Van Alstine stuff currently. Looks nice, simple, and clean! Right up my alley.

Go to Audio Science Review and read the test report on the LRS. 

I run a Lab12 pre 1 with my Parasound A21+. 

You are NEVER going to hear the resolution that the headphone system has..Too many variables like room interaction,distance of speaker to back wall(they need 3-4' to really open up),background noise,amplifier masking of low level resolution(the Parasound is good but NOT that good)& cable difference....

The LRS is a badly flawed speaker. Measurements don't lie! Your HiFi Man phones are far more accurate! Don't waste money on a preamp. Buy better speakers like Revels.

@jasonbourne71  

It's hard to get accurate measurements on speakers like magnepans, as anyone with any experience measuring them knows.

You are not clear in what you are stating. I think you are saying that you ran your Saga with both the Parasound and the Adcom into your Maggie’s, and that your Parasound amp has less resolution than your Adcom. Occam’s Razor in this case, with my interpretation of what you reported, is that the Parasound is the less detailed amp. It might be the better sounding amp in other regards.

 I would also expect that your headphone system is much more detailed than your speaker system, an expected result given the relative investment in each system.

 I have the original Saga, which sports a Sylvania “Bad Boy” 6SN7 GT and sounds terrific. It’s quite detailed, lacking only the organic body and image focus of my Cary SLP05. It is more detailed than other preamps that I’ve owned, including a 1980 vintage Audio Research SP6B. 

I have owned Adcom amps and preamps.  They were my first separates. I recommend buying better as soon as you can afford it.  

Everyone makes good points here. Perhaps comparing headphone resolution to speaker resolution for the same amount of input cost is silly. I had some custom designed Single Driver speakers based on Lii Audio paper cone drivers. They were almost just as picky but I could get the detail I wanted out of them for around the same price ($1000 tube amp and $1500 for the speakers). I should probably just accept what the Maggie’s are good at and that’s midrange and get something like a Conrad Johnson or something. 

Given your headphone setup I agree with those believing it will be hard to match its resolution and detail with the Maggie LRS. If you want micro detail look at a used Ayre Acoustics K-5xe preamp. It is extremely quiet and detailed without being harsh. It is a balanced preamp, a good match for your system and better than your amp. You should be able to find one in the $1500 range.  I’ve owned one for years and have rarely been tempted to switch. Read some reviews. 

@sameyers1 - what speakers and amp are you running with that preamp? Ayre stuffs looks to be a good value and fast, resolving, and clean which is what I would thought I’d be getting even with the entry level Maggie’s. 

I have a pair of Aerial Acoustics Model 8b floorstanders in a large room. They are relatively inefficient, 4 ohm speakers and power hungry like Maggies, but a more traditional 3-way rear ported woofer design. The amp is a well maintained Proceed HPA-2 (a Levinson design), putting out 250w/ch at 8 and 500w/ch at 4 ohms. The amp is a balanced unit like the Ayre preamp and they are a good match. I listened to Ayre amps when I purchased the preamp, but kept the Proceed. Felt it had a bit more meat on the bones, a more full bodied sound. You can find reviews of both the speakers and amp online.