What pre amp to use in my system?

Well, about why I think I should get a preamp, it is quite a long process as everyone has gone through. I originally has a Rotel 1055 receiver with my CDM 9 NT. Then, I change it to a Denon 988 to take advantage of the 7.1 and the DTS-HD master for Blu-ray. Then I found out the sound for music is not as good as my Rotel receiver before. Since I thought the amp and the speaker are the most important component, I got the Rotel RB 1080 and use the Denon as the processor/preamp. Base on my research, it is not a bright amp. However, I am still not satisfied with the result. Therefore I decided to try adding a preamp. And to my surprise, the effect is much more significant than changing the amp. At this point, I believe changing the preamp will give me the biggest effect. And I would like to keep the speaker and the amp. So .. if I wait and save, what are the suggestions?

Thanks.

OK, fair enough.

Have you tried Rotel RC1070? It was $400 new back 5-6 years ago, and I still have it. It's a good match with the RB1080.

If it were me I would probably try and save more and buy a used unit from A'gon. Maybe a Rowland Capri? Sorry can't help much in that price range. McIntosh, Classe, Rowland, Mark Levinson, Conrad Johnson are generally regarded as good matches with B&W. Willing to have tubes?

BTW, if you decide to buy older stuff make sure to have it recaped.

Horacio

What sources are you using,interconnects and speaker cables?
But since you like female vocals and want a smoother midrange that to me means a nice tube pre amp.

Lewinskih01:
Rotel RC 1070 is one of the candidates on my list, but it seems it has mix reviews, and it is more expensive than NAD or Adcom. Does it sound warm and smooth with the RB 1080?

Rleff:
For the tube preamp, it seems my choice are very limited for my budget of $400. I can see there is a Dynaco PAS 3, is it good? Is there other good suggestion? How do you feel about a home built unit? There is a local guy who build tube preamp, and he can build one for about $300, and he said it is "rebirth" of Pas 3, and from the photo, the circuits are very simple. Is it trust worthy?

Gte,

I can't answer how the RC1070 sounds as it's the first pre I've had and don't recall very well how others sounded back 5 years ago when I was hunting. I guess the RC1070 + RB1080 + B&W CM4 combo sounded better than other options back then. But remember that with the 804S I thought the sound was a bit too harsh, maybe due to the higher resolution of the 804 vs CM4.
Can you try it? Many Rotel dealers also carry B&W.

About home built units: be careful. Do you know people who have any of those units? Any reason why you should trust the person making the offer? Assuming it's a good faith offer, does he know enough to make you a good pre? Keep in mind resale value will likely be close to nothing.