Give me a tube preamp that looks and sound great

i once had the arc sp-16l and now i have a supratek chardonnay. though i had some other pre's between the two, i don't remember the arc exhibiting as much emotion as the supratek does. the supratek just brings out the life, body, and emotion of the music better in my opinion. there's a used one for sale here right now (not mine) so you might could go that route and save time (6-7 months) and money.

Take a look at the Canary products, especially the CA-801 and up. Great sound, and really well built. I haven't heard any Supratek products, so I can't compare, but on their own merits Canary are a class act. Used units would be within your price range.

I don't know if you're open to other approaches than tubes at this point, but a transformer passive can be a very attractive alternative. I have a Canary 801 as well as an Audion Premier (a 6922 line stage with SS power supply), but with my Canary 339 monoblocks the Bent Audio NOH passive is noticeably better than either of them. However, on some other amps the situation is reversed, so this isn't an absolute recommendation, just something to think about.

Hack: How do the 3i and 30 compare? Arthur

I would agree with the CJ 17LS I have the step up, the Premier 16LS and now when I go to hear speakers, I am in the upgrade mode, I have to take it with me. CJ's sound is music in a way that other preamps just do not do it for me.

I had and loved a Supratek Syrah and I now have a Herron VTSP1A that I love as well. For me the Supratek gave the music a more emotional, alive feel, but the Herron is much quieter giving more detail with a bit less emotion. Both great preamps.