Preamps better than Parasound JC-2 ?

For a tube preamp Audio Horizons TP2.3 with full mods is the biggest sleeper I know of in high end audio.

I disagree on the Audio Horizons. I heard this against a 30 year old Counterpoint SA-5 last year and the Counterpoint tore the AH to pieces in portraying space and harmonic overtones. It's very very rare that I hear a tube line stage or preamp sound as flat as the AH. In the $2-3K range, there are many many options and the AH would not be on my list.

JC-2 is now in house. Did a brief comparing this morning. I am somehow feeling that my TVC is more transparent than the JC-2. The JC-2 seemed "louder" and I cannot go past 9 O'clock position for my normal listening position. At that position, it is already loud.
Honestly, I am finding it a bit difficult to "like" the JC-2. I had very high hopes for sound improvements. What would you specifically look for when comparing pre-amps? I used the following CDs for comparison:

Eva Cassidy - Live At Blues Alley - Fields of Gold
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Big Joe Mahar - Got My Mojo Working
Cassandra Wilson - Lover Come Back to Me & The Very Thought of You

I will continue to listen and compare the pre-amps again tonight, before returning it to the shop tomorrow.

"Honestly, I am finding it a bit difficult to "like" the JC-2. I had very high hopes for sound improvements. What would you specifically look for when comparing pre-amps?"

That's why you need a really good line stage if you want better sound than your passive. One thing you need to do before making a final decision on the JC-2 is leave it on for a while. I've seen many times where SS gear benefits greatly from letting it warm up for a day or so. If you leave it on from now until tomorrow, it should sound better. I still don't think you'll keep it, but you never know. If you want to try a different active, I still recommend the Ayre K5. There's a good chance you may like it better than your passive.

"The JC-2 seemed "louder" and I cannot go past 9 O'clock position for my normal listening position."

That's normal. A passive preamp doesn't have an amp. An active one does.

Just as a fyi, this is a JC-2 BP. After your suggestion, I kept the unit warmed up for several hours and did some critical listening again. I did find that the dynamics were a tad bit sharper than my TVC - but I am really "trying" very hard to find the differences. In fact I called in my wife for 2 songs and after patiently listening to those songs her comments were the same - the JC-2 is slightly "sharper" than the TVC. But this could also have been that the JC-2 was set to higher volume level. The concern is it's volume starts at 7 O'clock position and I cannot go beyond 9 O'clock.
I will keep the unit on for the whole night and see if that makes a difference. I am not sure if that extra circuit for the "BP" in the JC-2 is making it sound different than what the reviews for the standard JC-2 says. On this forum as well as audioasylum, there are folks who swear by active line stage and would never go passive. I was under the impression that when the JC-2 would be introduced in my system, it would really show all those deficiencies of a "passive" line stage.
When I moved from the power amp section of a NAD integrated to my A21, it did not take me more than 2 mins to hear the difference. Same thing when I moved to the TVC from the same integrated amp's preamp section - this was much more prominent. And here I am struggling to find improvements by the $4795 JC-2 BP over my $1675 TVC.