personal experiences with quaility preamps...

Depending on the power requirements of your speakers and the size of room, your needs are difficult to determine. I will however recommend several systems I have heard which sound very good. The Bryston 4BST and BP25 preamp can be had for under 3K, and is well spent money. They are capable of handling just about any speaker out there. An integrated recommendation is the Rowland Concentra 1. This is a fabulous piece, more refined than the Bryston combination, but with less power and muscle. There is no magic in separates, they can sound good or bad depending on how they are matched to your system. I also would recommend the BAT VK200 and VK3i, VK30, and other BAT preamps. They are also very good and reasonably priced. The best advice I can give you is to find someone who has speakers and a room size similar to you and find out what they have heard and other info. Then you will have better direction. Jallen