@cming0038 If your interest/curiosity is are leaning toward EAR, I am\very familiar with the Brand as the Companies models are owned within my local HiFi Group.
I know the Acute very well and am Very Impressed, there is a infrequent attendee who has The Head SUT and this is rated as the best SUT to be demo'd during the get togethers.
There is Power Amp' Owners with models from the past and recently one the most recent models from the Brand has been bought in place of a earlier produced model.
Additionally there is a Tim De Paravicini Designed 300b and a Imported VAC Amp.
There was a want to bring in a New Pre Amp, where money was not too much of a constraint for a option on a New Pre Amp' for the owner of the exchanged model EAR Power Amp. The monies available for the Pre Amp' was working towards £7K, which shares a similarity to your own situation.
A host of Pre Amp's were available for Home Demo's of which one was the EAR 868. Out of the Commercial Pre's being demo'd the EAR was the one that impressed the most. Note: The 868 is not a Lush or Rich Toned Pre Amp, it has clarity and detail retrieval with unnoticeable smearing affecting the micro details.
Here is a curve ball, there was also at the Pre Amp Demo's a PASS KB1 Pre Amp present, and it delivered in a manner that was not easy to overlook. It was also commanding a cost that was very very attractive, and suggested methods to upgrade were also made known and the cost that would be needed to include these.
The EAR owner has chosen the Pass KB1 as their Pre Amp and a few other Valve Power Amp owners within the Group are also using the Pass KB1. At present I am having a Balanced Design of the Pre Amp' produced to couple to my monoblock Power Amp's.
A Pass KB1 can be acquired for a very respectable outlay. If it does not deliver to your preference, it will sell on and a valuable experience will have been encountered.