Straight wire and gain linestage?

I had a Placette Passive Linestage for a few years. The transparency is wonderful. No signature at all!! Can be had as rack mount or stand alone, with remote(power supply for remote in separate enclosure). All Vishay resistors. (http://www.placetteaudio.com/) There are four Placettes listed on this site, but all are sold or sale pending. Sometimes the company has loaners(that's how I bought mine originally).

Do you need gain from your pre, or is a passive an option for you?

OOPS- You wanted it with gain? I don't think you'll ever find the Placette Active Linestage for under a $1000.00(or $2k for that matter).