Tubes or Solid State?

@dierksb  I understand.  I don't have $20,000 for a pre-amp either.  Keep looking.  Audio Mart has a few under $1000 and there are other sources.  Their dealers have trade-ins; list of dealers is easy to find.   E-Bay has several under $1000 as well.  Also, there are a couple of just-tube collectors out there that have them, I am sure.

Obviously, other companies make fine tube pre-amps as well.  ARC kind of started the amazing pre-amp trend with their SP3-A1 (if you wanna get real technical) and they have had many winners along the way.  Others here suggest some well-respected brands, so keep looking and best of luck.

Enjoy the MUSIC!

@ richopp  A friend of mine has an ARC Preamp. I don't remember what particular model it is. He uses it to feed a Bryston 400WPC power amp. Together the set up makes his speakers disappear.
Thanks for the advice, I'll keep looking.

Never say never.....

I could not imagine giving up streaming now....

I have always enjoyed music, but not like I do now.  I can really go on mind trips, find new music instantly, build playlists, listen to songs I would never listen to otherwise.  One song leads to another.  The beauty is in the not getting up or down and having to take breaks to clean records. I got in the zone the other night the system disappeared and I was immersed. I have heard of this condition and I believe it was the first time for me ever!  Since then I have gotten there two more times!  I have just replaced my dedicated streamer and my new DAC is ordered.  It was a heavy period of upgrading during/after the Pandemic.

+1 on the Schitt Freya recommendation.  I owned one and am of the opinion they are hard to beat into the low thousands. Very reliable. Dead quiet. Good resale.  Lots of input and output options. Quality parts inside. 

Oh, and I had some wonderful sessions driving SS amps with the Freya.