Ideas for Pre/Power $9000?

HegeL H590. Read some reviews that include measurements. On the used market they should be available. 2017 I tried a bunch of int's and separates in a similar price and power and the hegel H360 back then) was clearly the most neutral and dynamic. The h590 has more wpc, double the headroom and a new dac and now that the H600 is out the 50 should be a bargain.

Metal? Save your money. You won’t hear any improvement much with Metal. 

Why is that? I currently don't have an amplifier, that means no music at all. So by your logic, I should just go without? 

@coltrane1 

I beg to differ. Metal sounds quite good on my system. At least the metal that’s recorded well. And there is some like that. Check out any Tool album for reference.

Yes you will absolutely hear a difference with metal and the ilk. Even poorly recorded material will sound better although not great. Not all of us listen to fruity tooty audiophile fare….