Any of the pre-amps, mentioned, would be a good choice! You could also ad some to the list, but would only confuse and make your decision more difficult. All of them sound different, and have different features. Some are bare bone tube, massive hybrids, or solid state. For $500, you wont be able to get Audible Illusions 3 or Adcom 750. You might be able to negotiate ARC. Good Luck!
Alot of preamp questions
Wow, am I ever having a hard time deciding which preamp to get for my system. Sunfire 300 wpc amp, new tube 4000 w/o upgrades, and Legacy Signature lll's. I do have a limit though on cash. I would like to spend $500 but what I'm seeing online for what I hear is good, I'm up to $800 to $1000. I'm looking at Deware ZSLA-1, Grounded Grid Kit, Foreplay wholedeal, ARC(ls2,ls3,ls5) Audible illusions 3a, Adcom GFP-750. Problem here is I don't get to hear any of them, so I'd like to get some input from the pro's out there who have been through similar problems way in there past. Thanks in advance Kelly