Get a Schiit Freya + preamp and have tubes, no tubes (it actually turns the tubes off), or a passive setting, and it costs less new than anything mentioned here yet. 900 bucks...I have one (original version) and its most recent quad of NOS GE tubes has lasted nearly a couple of years of hard use. It sounds fabulous. Unlike any other tubed preamp I know of, you can check the tube stage against the non tube stage instantly if worried about the tube tonal life.
