Atma-sphere MP-1 vs Mark Levinson 32

Thank you both very much. The ML is so user-friendly and has such incredible features that it is hard to part with - but I wont know how much better the sound could be until I try a tubed, truly balnced preamp. Is the Lamm truly balanced? Why is that I cannot find a review (other than TAS Golden ear award with the M60 - 1/4 page - on the MP-1 - could it be that it is just not as "special" as the MA 2?
It is really hard to get advice about it, which is why I especially appreciate your input. How about the BAT VK-51SE?

Mike,
I've just looked at your system......fantastic! (I have little Kharmas - 3.2)
it seems the only thing you're short is a coupla Indra i/cs.......:)

I will dispense with input gain controls and even a remote for the pure sonic virtues. I will look into The Aesthetix and pursue further the MP-1. Again, I appreciate this help.
Rushton, what single-ended i/cs are you running between the Io and the MA2? Unless I misunderstand him,if you read what Ralph writes and I thought I heard him say it, the true balanced attributes of the AS system are a big strength(?)and not to use it is under-using his design. Am I wrong?
In any event, I will be interested to hear how you find the sound when you try running balanced i/cs. So if you were I and you could spend close to 10K (what I hope to get for the ML)on a preamp (hopefully, used), given my requirements - balanced design and all the sonic virtues that the ML (minimally) lacks - transparency, speed, soundstaging, vibrancy and coherence as well as great strength in the upper midrange - which would you buy:)? (I dont know the cost of any of the preamps mentioned except the MP-1, BAT and Lamm)

Rushton,
Thanks for your reply. I printed your review, took it to bed, as it was 2 am, and half an hour later was sitting bolt-upright, staring at the blackness of night, my heart pounding and my mind filled with rue - how could I have thrown away 22 years of LPs and just listened to a shiny disc when Audio nirvana is clearly in the vinyl and can be brought out by what sounds to be a Houdini of craftmanship!
So not only did you answer my question, directly, about your preamp choice, but made me wonder about my insanity in my choice of source...........that's how compelling, reasoned and passionately articulate your review was. You wrote, IMHO, the best review I have ever read on Audiogon and furthermore gave pause to my misconception (clearly) that reality can be achieved closely by digital sources. I wait with baited breath until some A'goner takes the Walker turntable and in the same room, with the same electronics, compares it to a digital source. (But you need to be there....:) I doubt it will happen.
You are also extremely fortunate to have a partner who shares your passion so. Good luck to you and enjoy what you have indubitably earned - you sound closer to sonic happiness than anybody I have read about and that, after all, is what we are in this hobby/mania for..............

Rushton, I was interested in Jonathan Valin's review of the Callisto in TAS in which he said that he >> ......cannot recommend either unit (Io + Callisto) as highly as I am now recommending it if you do go with a a fully balanced setup.You will get the sound I've described above when the 2 preamps and your amps are hooked together via Valhalla single-ended interconnects....... >...Switching to balanced ... makes the Callisto and Io substantially quieter, increases output, improves detail, lowers grain and brightness, enhances bass definition, but so darkens the overall sound and constricts bloom that I would no longer recommend either unit ahead of its competition (although together the Aesthetix pair would be on a par with it).<<
Any comments from you or anybody else who has used the Callisto line-stage in balanced set-up?
I am committed to a blanced set-up and certainly wont spend the kind of money a Callisto demands over an MP-1 for no benefit.......

Albert, Thank you for your input. I drifted the thread from MP-1 to Aesthetix in my quest to find the best preamp for my MA-2 - Kharma 3.2 setup with Dominus Rev C I/cs - in balanced mode. So, am I reading you correctly that you agreed with Valin's view that the balanced set-up lost "bloom and space, particularly in the midrange" but you went with balanced because of the Primus?
So, if you had Dominus Rev C, as I do, would you still go balanced? (line-stage only)

Dominus Fluid-filled. But I dont want to "lose the magic":)
Thanks, again.