I'm thinking of getting into tubes, what do you

Gfloyd53 - You may not need a pre-amp at all. I had the same experience with a highly regarded $8,000.00 pre-amp (soft, warm, lacking in detail, and I kept having to turn the volume up to get any satisfaction). I bought it used and kept for 6 months - never got any better. Sold it and bought a Placette passive unit which gives me detail, transparency, body, everything I wanted. Have had it for 8 months now and will probably never go back to a pre-amp.

By the way, I use a 300B SET amp and get extended high frequencies and transparency up the ying-yang.

Thanks Jose21 and Tomryan. I will be giving this combination a little more time. I wouldn't want to have anything for sale 'til after this year's traveling is done anyway. (a couple of nieces getting married.) But maybe I'm just a 'solid state' guy anyway. I'm thinking of getting a BAT VK-20 and just comparing the two side by side and then selling the loser or even both.

Gfloyd53, you got to keep in mind that not all tube gear are created equal. If you love transparency, detail, speed and dynamic then you should really consider getting Audio Research SP-11 MKII preamp.
I'm not a fan of BAT product. From my personal experience, their amp sound lush with very poor control in the low frequency and smeared in the mid range.
I've heard it on the new B&W 802s and it just made it sound awful.

Thank you S23chang. So far my wife and I concur with your assessment of the BAT sound. I'm still going to wait for awhile before I make anymore changes (see reason above). And I think I'm going to give up on the used market gamble and start making the rounds of the high end salons. With my own music and a notebook to record listening impressions. I could probably get better sound from something new that may even be less expensive than what I've done here. Thanks to everyone who tried to assist me with this latest outbreak of my audiophilia bug.

Gfloyd53, You're on the right track now. However, I don't totally agree that you can get better sound from something new (due to poor craftsmenship these days.)
Here are some of my suggestions before you jump on to the next "hi fi" gear.
Rule number One: Always audition it first. Once you done that, you can then decide whether or not you should buy the same product used or new.
Rule number Two: Don't rely on others opinion since it is your ears doing the listening and not theirs. It is hard for you to tell if the person who's replying to your question is being honest or just making up some stuff.
Rule number Three: Always ask specific questions. If you can't get the answer you are looking for then his or her opinion is worthless.
Rule number Four: Always do background research before and after you audition any product. You can find some serious flaw in a particular product.
Rule number Five: Always check every single piece of equipment you auditioned together. Every single piece of equipment will contribute to your end result. You might bring home the whole system but you didn't bring home the sound you like because you didn't use the same CD player or cables or isolation devices... you get the point.