Before Die Muzik, I have owned Vienna Mahlers for several years and wrote the review for TAS. Fantastic speakers indeed. I have used three different pres with them with excellent results...
ARC Ref 3 -- wonderfully resolving, mildly tuby and pastel in its tone, wonderful almost completely linear bass.
Rowland Capri (V1) -- greater dynamics, resolution, and staging than Ref 3, but with a slightly light tone in the bass region. The new Capri S2 has exceeded greatly performance of the original and no longer shows the peccadillos in the bass region
Rowland Criterion -- simply sonically and musically stunning for all audible parameters. No longer in production, but the current Rowland Corus is very close. One is available used on Audiogon in your price range.
If you were interested in Ref 3, please let me know via PM. My unit may be seeking a caring adoptive parent, and will be well inside your budget.
Guido
