Upgrading preamp. Best for under $1K

Thanks for the responses! It seems tubes is the way to go for preamp but will it match well with the B&K amp?

It depends completely on what improvements and sound characteristics you’re looking for.  If you share that info you’ll get much more targeted recommendations here.  The other thing to consider is you want the input impedance of the amp to be  at least 10 times (and preferably much higher) the output impedance of the preamp.  This tends to be more a potential issue with tube preamps than solid state BTW.

Rogue RP-1 over on USAudiomart now for $1.1K. Highly regarded phono stage in there for entry level tube pre. Then save your coin and put a couple NOS tubes in and you have a huge bang for buck preamp.

Rogue support is also highly regarded.

Again thanks for all the recommendations.

@soix i had the RC-980BX preamp and to my current RC-995, there was a huge difference in sound quality, especially in the bass region. It has a much better, tighter bass with better definition. The mid and highs also improved. I really want an upgrade where the sound in the upper region to be more dynamic and realistic without losing bass detail and definition. As far as impedance mismatch between pre and amp in my system, i am pretty close to ideal.

@highend64 

Im a little late to the party ... I would certainly give The Music Room a close inspection.  Several pieces of gear within you search parameters!!

https://tmraudio.com/components/preamplifiers/

BENCHMARK , Try to find a used LA-4 pre amp. New,  about 3 K. I have 2 systems, one manages each, like it that much, solid state. Robert TN