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!!!
