Looking for warm tube preamp (should pair well with Pass power amp), budget $6000

@smodtactical 

I found the ref5se was a more visceral, tactile preamp with a little more flesh. I also disliked strongly the volume on ref6 which came on entirely too strong out of the gate. Zero was no sound, 10 was VERY loud. Its my understanding the ref6se update addressed this.

I’m not so sure Shindo and NS5000’s have ever been in the same system LOL. Did I miss your amplification in a prior post? In any case, I doubt anything I could add to the discussion would be of value as I have no familiarity with with your interconnects or speakers. Shindo shines when properly matched but I can’t imagine Shindo and Yamaha coexisting harmoniously.

I really like my Backert Rhumba 1.3 pre with a Pass XA30.8.  Great bass, dynamics and musicality.

@ghasley Good to hear Shindo does rock well. That makes sense actually. Thanks for your comments.

I have a really sweet sounding Deja Vu tube preamp that would fit the bill.   It also has a first class MC phone section.  Anyone interested I am ready to deal!

Still searching. I am right now looking hard at cary 98 and 05 and CJ act2 series 2 or ls17.

1 more criteria is I must have a remote.

Any thoughts on prima luna evo 300/400 ? I heard a prima luna evo 300 integrated with my headphones and was blown away by the sound.