Budget vacuum tube preamp?

FYI the generally accepted rule of thumb is that the output impedance of your preamp should be 10x less than the input impedance of your amp.

I will reiterate a common refrain. SS souces and pres mated to tube power amps is often better than a tube source into a solid state power amps. The phono amp amplifies a small signal. Tubes as much as I love them are not inherently quiet, in fact they generally a little noisy but the noise doesnt seem to be amplified by the line stage or power output. I strongly recommend SS phono sections for their low noise and the rest of your system tube if possible.
I am now curious about the Nhor, however at that crazy low price.

I use SS into a tube amp only because I have a very low noise and capable preamp (and phono preamp), and because it's what I had when I bought the tube power amp. It sounds fabulous. I'm not sure the paranoia about preamp matching is justified though as I bet most tube preamps match fine with most power amps, but then what is the point of this forum if not to allow geekdom to engender fear and suspicion? I like it. Keeps me from becoming too relaxed. Also, I use balanced cables from the preamp (and the DAC feeding it) just because they're generally a little quieter.

Going with Unsound's questions, please list for us the input impedance and input sensitivity of your amp. If you don't know, tell us what amp you have so we can possibly look it up. Since we're on the subject, what's the output impedance of the component ABOVE the preamp (cd player or DAC)? Not to confuse you more but maybe a passive preamp will work for you. There are many to choose from, and some VERY cheap! Since it's passive, if the output voltage of your cd player or dac is at least as much as the input voltage sensitivity of your amp, you will have enough voltage to drive the amp to full power.

At this point I do not yet have an amp either...my whole setup is being driven by an Integra DTR 40.1 receiver which is not bad, but i feel can get much better for a reasonable price if I know what to look for.

Perhaps the better question after reading all the great responses would be to define a preamp / amp combo to get me started.