SS pre sounds like tubes

Sure, all gear is flawed. 

"There must be other solid state preamps in the world like it"

I am sure there our but not at 3000.00.

i prefer neutral sounding preamp no matter what it uses vacuum tubes or semiconductors for casual audio listening. for instruments and effects different. the most neutral sounding preamp i've ever had was mccormack micro line drive. i bought it for $300 shipped.

czarivey, if you liked Steve's Micro Line Drive, check out (on my system page) what he built for me out of a TLC-1. A buffered no-gain preamp using Lundahl transformers, an outboard choke power supply and a Shallco discrete resistor volume control using Audio Note tantalum resistors.  It is the only preamp I have owned that I like better than the Vibe/Pulse combination.  I would rank Lamm LL2 Deluxe third, and everything else further down the line, including two that were $10K+.  IMO, it has nothing to do with tubes vs. SS, but rather does the preamp adequately drive the power amps, is it quiet and clean sounding, does it have body and drive, and is it musical.

Sounds like you guys would love an LDR based passive from Tortuga or Lightspeed. I owned both and they deliver what you like!