EAD makes very good preamp. I have matched it with the SimAudio titan 7 channel. My goal was music as well as HT. You won't be disappointed if you further upgrade (e.g. speakers) in the future. When I was recently evaluating amps, I found the ones that you listed as possible choices lacking when compared to the simaudio. The titan is a large solid state amp: 13" high x 19" wide by 27" depth. It has XLR input for each channel. I recently saw a used one on Audiogon at a very good price.