Used Preamp for $2000 to $3000

Modwright ... 9.0 SE

http://www.modwright.com/products/index.php?product_id=21

Dan is a great man.

So many choices - you will get many opinions here. There probably will be many great combos.

I will only chant that:

"I LOVE A TUBED LINESTAGE" With or without a tubed amp. It made me a believer in about 30 seconds. I'm running a Levinson 23.5 and it brought it to life.

Happy, happy, horse

For that price you can get a new Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (with Bybee and Blackgate upgrades) hybrid linestage.
It is incredibly open, quiet, transparent, dynamic and three dimensional. Rivals linestages costing far more. Check out the reviews at "6 Moons" and "Enjoy The Music."
Both writers bought the review unit.
I suggest the Tung Sol over the Jan Philips tubes.

How about Audio Research? Wonderfully musical gear and great upgrade paths.

I cant immagine anything would sound better then the supratek syrah in the 2k range...in the 3k I would go for the Hovland or CAT

Bat VK=3,VK-5,VK-30 or 30 SE would work well and be in your price range.I've used at least 10 (past 5 yrs.) preamps including Classe CP-50,Adcom 750,CJ 14& Premier 18LS,Rogue Magnum 99,Sonic Frontiers Line 1 & Line 1SE,Bel Canto Pre-1,and Ps Audio PCA-2.My current BAT 50 SE is by far the best(and a few of the others were quite good).The 50-SE features great user interface;is clean,quiet and dynamic.I've also heard the 31 SE and 51 SE at a friends house and been mightily impressed by both.My amp at this time is a Plinius 100 Mk.III which should be similar to the Pass.Just a note.The best value I have heard is the Consonance T-1(retail around $1500).Steve Monte at Quest for sound lent it to me while he was re-tubing my BAT.While not as absolutely quiet,it may have been more musical than my 50 SE.I prefer the BAT interface,but for pure Sonics the T-1 is hard to beat!!!