Cheap killer preamp? The Chinese Weiliang-made MBL 6010d clone is just that. Just be shure to give it some good sounding op-amps.
BB OPA627 single op-amps + 4xTexas Instruments LME49720 dual op-amps makes this into a balanced giant-killer. Extremely open and dynamic, wery low noise. It dissapears like a good pre should do and to a price..