Balanced/Differential tube preamplifier recommendation?

mc1969, holy crap that's a heck of a amp. Someday I'd also like a GaN amp. I have heard the Freya+. It is a fine unit. It just seemed a bit lacking to me, all around, especially in the department of dynamics and tonal character 

ghdprentice, that is good advice. Do you happen to know if the listed manufacturers make their preamps fully differential? I know Audio Research in particular is very well regarded, and even their older designs are imitated even today

@thought9

Sorry I can’t tell you whether designs are fully differential or not, I make decisions on sound quality.

If you have five different designers, they can make a particular design sound completely different depending on the sound they want, the components they use, and all the ancillary components.

I know it is tempting to favor a particular design… but a great audio designer crafts the sound using everything from the case construction, the sound quality of each resistor, capacitor, tube, etc. choice. These guys are artists with science and engineering as their pallets.

These great companies have invested decades in research and development to achieve their sonic objectives, using what every technology that can get them there.

What preamp are you using now, and what improvements and sound characteristics are you looking for?  That’s gonna drive the decision more than anything else and get you much better recommendations here. 

ghdprentice, I do appreciate all of these things, and I would like to get a preamp that falls under that category, but for it to integrate with the rest of my system I do need a true balanced piece. Upping the budget to $3,000 is probably doable, though, especially if as you say it really makes a big difference. 

soix, I just sold my Topping Pre90, which is what I was using. Right now I'm just using an integrated amp I had lying around. The Pre90 was a quality preamp, but I found it lacking in dynamics, tonal character, and most significantly soundstage depth. I am after above all after a preamplifier with very wide holographic soundstage. I would like something that is warm and dynamic, that sweetens the sound without taking away its bite