Tube Preamp

Try the Schiit Freya 6SN7 preamp. $699 with 15 day return option and 5 year warranty. VERY flexible having passive, JFET-buffered and tube gain outputs. It is a balanced design that accommodates balanced and singled ended inputs and provides balanced and single ended outputs as well. A couple of the as supplied NOS Russian 6SN7 tubes were microphonic. Schiit quickly replaced them. With well-screened tubes it is completely quiet in all output modes. I’ve had one for going on 2 years now and use it very satisfactorily with three different amps (Taranis, Hegel, First Watt F7). The sound is excellent (detailed yet relaxed) and clearly reveals differences in program material, tubes, cabling and amps. I feel no need to spend more in search of better.

http://www.schiit.com/products/freya

@mista_p

I agree the C2600 is a lovely tube preamp and DAC especially with tubes that suit to taste, a bit beyond the OP budget however. I would add that the DAC benefits from a Schiit Eiitr which seems common for most DACs as so few are completely jitter immune.

When was the last time you auditioned speakers?  

I'm a Freya/Loki owner (does that sound like an AA confession?), and wrote a little review of the Loki here when I first bought it...I'm a long time live sound engineer and musician, and consequently an irrational snob here and there who dislikes DSP (me and Steve Guttenberg it would seem) and the Loki is astonishingly transparent...no clicks or noise when engaging it, basically no impact on anything until Knob Turner arrives. And the Freya is also sort of amazing regardless of it's "so cheap it's irrelevant" cost, with more inputs and outputs including balanced than most anything out there, and 3 operating options with a remote that allows you to scroll through those options...I prefer the higher gain tubes as my little single ended tube amp needs some prodding, although it could all be a conspiracy to get me to buy a lot of 6SN7GTBs...if so it worked. Also, I can't imagine a better power supply would make the Loki work better, as it's so good as is.

I would recommend Aric Audio. Aric's products are simply fantastic. I purchased his Unlimited pre a few months back. All I can say is,WOW! I have it paired with a First Watt F5,Nola Boxer 2's with some pretty impressive results. (At least to my ears) Aric has a few different pre's to choose from. He is also great to deal with.