Many people have been very happy with Bryston & Maggies. Jim Winer of Magneplanar used to show the Maggies at hi-fi shows using Bryston electronics, so the speaker's designer believes in the synergy. The SST line is more refined sounding than the earlier Brystons and worth seeking out. Per my above post, I think the bigger Brystons are better matches, but they can get to serious bucks, even used. Another cheaper option that many folks like is the Conrad Johnson solid state line (see the Maggie Planar forum on Audio Asylum and search for amplifiers with Maggies). These can be had for under $1k also.
I have heard the Brystons with Maggies, and I own a Modulus 3A, but I've never heard them all together, so I don't know what the synergy would be like. But maybe a few thoughts about the Modulus would be helpful to you?
The Modulus 3A is not a particularly romantic-sounding tube preamp. It is very clean sounding and does present a holistic presence that is very addictive. Some of that "3D" sound you said you were looking for. If you want a warm sound, you can try tube rolling, but it limits your tube rolling options because it runs fairly high plate currents on its 6922 tubes. While you can use NOS 6dj8's in it, the higher plate currents will shorten their life dramatically. Some people have had good results with 7dj8's, although I didn't hear a lot of magic from the Valvo's I tried in mine. I've had very good results using JJ 6922's in the line stage, which are among the warmest-sounding of current production 6922's. From the factory these days, it comes with EH6922's in it, which are OK. The phono stage benefits from using the Russian 6n23eb tubes, which are both sensitive and decent-sounding. I'm using a set of platinum graded ones I got from Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio. Recommended.
One nice thing is that there are only two tubes in the line section, so it's not too expensive to try alternatives, and kinda fun too.
If you run phono, the Modulus has a fairly nice, but not state-of-the-art phono section. That is, unless you get the John Curl gold phono board, which is considerably nicer, but restricts you to MC cartridges. If you're only running CD, then ignore this paragraph.
The latest versions of the Modulus 3A have DIP switches which let you disconnect the output capacitors (used to prevent DC from appearing on the input of the amp). Assuming your amp has DC protection, some people have found it worthwhile to bypass these caps. I did that in mine, but I haven't actually done serious listening to see if it makes a big difference.
Another preamp you might have a look at is the Juicy Music Blueberry. I think there's one for sale now on A'gon, maybe as an auction? Anyway, they've been getting good reviews, and should be within your price cap.
A terrific and very musical preamp that I know well (have one on order as a result) is the octal-based Mapletree Audio Ultra4 SE. Also from Canada (like the Bryston) so you can have an all Cannuck amp setup, eh? These are hand-built by a retired electronics engineer & teacher. I can't say that they are anywhere near as accurate as the Modulus 3A, but they sure are musical, and make the music FUN!! Highly recommended!
Hope this helps!
