Balanced or fully SS pre with tone controls

McIntosh. The only other pre's (just off the top of my head) with the qualifications you desire are Japanese brands such as Accuphase, Luxman, Yamaha, Onkyo, and American brands such as D'Agostino. Most of them are higher priced than the McIntosh, unless you're talking about vintage Accuphase and probably Luxman.

Oh, and new Onkyo and Yamaha would be less than $5k as well.

ZD,

Thanks for the suggestion!

Ive since purchased that unit and along with REW, smoothed out the null and peaks that my treatments weren't able to fix.

I have also EQ'd to a house curve to resemble a Fletcher-Munson curve and shelved the treble to tame the brightness of the 801N.

I am very satisfied with the flexibility of the unit and will be playing around with the stereo width function once I have finalized my house curve.

No Contest for me...
SST Ambrosia
Good Luck, Tim

Isn't SST out of business now since James passed away?