To anyone still following this thread, or someone with the same intentions as me, I wound up going with the (less expensive) Schiit Freya+Gungnir, and saved some money to put into an eventual amp upgrade. I'm happy with this decision as it allows me to upgrade my amp on a more reasonable time frame, for the price of a better preamp. Both the Gungnir and the Freya are massive upgrades from what I previously had, particularly in the stereo separation department as well as in overall detail and 'color'. It really is incredible the difference and I'm looking forward to seeing how much better a new amp will sound.
One thing I would absolutely recommend is to swap out the stock tubes ASAP. I used some of the money I had saved to purchase a matched quad of Tung Sol red base tubes and this yielded a very large sound quality increase. If you do go this route, make sure to listen to the stock tubes for a few hours, get a feel for them, then switch to the Tung Sols for a surprise ;)
At risk of sounding cliche, the Tung Sols really gave a nice 'holographic' effect and made the soundstage appear deeper. It is also a very quiet tube stage, with the hiss barely audible from an 8 foot listening position.
I also seriously considered an AudioGD piece for a very long time before making the decision and they look to be an excellent company with strong design principles, and I hope to hear one some day. Thanks for all the help everyone!
One thing I would absolutely recommend is to swap out the stock tubes ASAP. I used some of the money I had saved to purchase a matched quad of Tung Sol red base tubes and this yielded a very large sound quality increase. If you do go this route, make sure to listen to the stock tubes for a few hours, get a feel for them, then switch to the Tung Sols for a surprise ;)
At risk of sounding cliche, the Tung Sols really gave a nice 'holographic' effect and made the soundstage appear deeper. It is also a very quiet tube stage, with the hiss barely audible from an 8 foot listening position.
I also seriously considered an AudioGD piece for a very long time before making the decision and they look to be an excellent company with strong design principles, and I hope to hear one some day. Thanks for all the help everyone!