Choosing a good preamp

I recommend a reissue Mac C22. I owned and used mostly for phono duties. Great sound, more-than-decent phono facilities, tubes and tone controls! What more do you want? Really good piece.

Another vote for the McIntosh C2600.  I have a C2500 and love it.  You get a good bang for the buck, more than most in it's price range.  It has a lot of inputs. I enjoy the two Phono inputs, MM and MC. It has an internal DAC that is not bad based on user comments.

@kamiar 

What are your speakers and front end source components? 

Back to the original question. We really do need more info on your speakers, music and likes/dislikes to make a meaningful recommendation. That said, I’ll infer that you like the sound that tubes impart - so that argues for a tube preamp as well.

However, tube distortion (which can be euphonic) plus *more* tube distortion might be too euphonic, but others might think its perfect. And why limit one’s self to McIntosh? There are lots of tube units to choose from.

But the best advice I can give came to me when i wanted to learn about wine, from a terrific local sommelier: "pop a lot of corks" was his advice. As you hear different gear you learn to appreciate what is what. But always remember you are hearing a **system** ---  the net sound of a recording (hugely important), front end (CD/Turntable), preamp, power amp, speakers and room (also hugely important). Note that the two things i said are "hugely important", you have little control over.

G

Atma-Sphere MP3 3.3 with vcaps  would be a great preamp to drive them.