Recommendations please for good, affordable pre-amp for system?

@donzi , the 300B is tube usually used in SET amplifiers. The only preamp that I can think of that uses the 300B is the Manley Neo-Classic 300B.

I agree with @sufentanil that the Bryston/Thiel combo would be too bright for my tastes. However, I do understand why they make so many different flavors. Different strokes for different folks. Some people love extreme definition.

I have a friend who loves his Thiel 3.6’s. He has found the best combination to be a tube preamp (CJ), Classe amp, and Kubala Sosna cables. All of his electronics and cables have a reputation for being warm sounding, which is why they probably mate so well with his Thiels.

As for integrated amps, I don’t know that a tube integrated amp will drive these speakers properly.
I think the Thiels crave SS power. A BAT integrated may give you the taste of tubes though, with a SS output stage (150 wpc). Pass Labs INT-150 is also very popular, though no tubes are used.

Also, how large your room is and how loud you like to listen will determine how much power you need. Will the 125 wpc of an Ayre AX-5 be enough? Or do you need the 250 wpc of a Hegel H360, or maybe even the 400 wpc of the CODA CSiB or Jeff Rowland Design Group Continuum S2? Only you can make that decision.

Happy hunting,
John

Donzi-

I would buy a Bryston pre-amp. If you want to go into tubes- Audio research (ARC).  Keep me posted & Happy New Year!

Would this Dared 2a3c one be amp or preamp? And this Bottlehead BeePre 300B is preamp, right? If they are both pre's, I wonder how they compare? 
The Bottleneck thing really has my attention, and I would seriously consider that model. Compatible with the Thiels and Brystons, do you think? It's got three inputs, though, I and really need four. Can one pigtail the lesser two quality components and get away with this? And second question, might it be possible to add a set of RCA's and go directly to speaker output, to create my own HT passthrough? Or does that kind of thing really screw with the whole design?
I'm reading that the imput impedance of the Brystons is 50k/20k for direct/balanced. That BeePre output is 500/1000 for direct/balanced. So it would seem that (using what I read as a 10x factor) it would be acceptable for either with a computed minimum of 5k/10k amp input -- so on that count, if I both understand and do the computation correctly, the Brystons would work. (?)

And finally (wow, the questions never end), what's the wisdom on Balanced vs. Direct end? 

There are a couple of low end Bryston pre's that I'm looking at, such as this 0.5B. Would this be too low end? Or do you suspect that this actually would be a good match as you're suggesting? And if not, which are the ones you might suggest?

My room is about 27 x 37 x 9, with rug, combined dining room/living room. So the listening half is the right half of that space, with the listening area about halfway back. So large-ish, it would seem, for power needs. 

For any who may be interested, I got this preamp via auction. It's at least a good start, and may serve me for a decent point into the future. I am still highly interested in the possibility of building a tube pre, particularly in light of the discussion as to the clarity/sharpness of both the Thiels and Brystons. (Bryston, btw, was the brand that the current Thiel people recommended when I contacted them. So, in all events, I think I have all the parts now, and we shall see.) I'm actually excited about getting this all plugged in now, particularly after reading an old review on Thiel last night.

I'm still curious for the thoughts on the Bottlehead, and that specific model and how it might rank relative to others. And for the thoughts on Direct end vs Balanced, as I now need to cable the whole thing. And on that count, what do you collectively think of Monoprice as a cable source? 7mm solid copper.