Pre-amp recommendation: JC-1/Talon Raven C/ARC CD2

Greetings all,

I am in the process of building my system and I am in dire need of some direction. I have the following components thus far:

Parasound JC1 Monoblocks
Talon Raven C Loudspeakers
Stealth TR speaker cable
Audio Research CD2
Blue Circle MR 1200 - for the CD2 and future pre-amp

My room is 21' by 12' with 8' ceilings. I listen to everything but the vast majority of my CD's are redbook. Future sources could be satellite radio, FM radio and an IPOD. Musicality is very important to me and I would rather enjoy the music then be a critic for sonic perfection ( I realize the paradox with this!). I think this is germane since a good portion of my music is eccentric (ambient, house, techno, indie) and thus poorly recorded.

What I am looking for now is a fully balanced pre-amp (preferably tube, but does not have to be) to complete the system. I would like to keep the price in the $3000 and under range. I am limiting my choices to what is locally available because I want to make sure that I am covered for service and I would like to support the people that have been helpful in the past. I also have a personal preference for North American manufacturers; as well as the implied ease of service local vendors can provide. As such, the manufacturers/models I am considering are as follows:

1) ARC - LS16MkII my dealer has one, I am certainly open to other ARC products as well
2) Ayre - not sure what models are in my price range, but my dealer does carry this line
3) Blue Circle Despina MKII - Innerkip, Ontario is a 3 hour drive (I am in Detroit) and I have been very impressed with BC gear. This product can be upgraded, but is a little higher priced, will take 14 weeks to build and CANNOT be demo'd
4) BAT Vk5i & SF - not locally available, CANNOT be demo'd, but highly recommended (I would rather avoid these, but if someone has a similar system I would be foolish not to consider)

Naturally, I plan to demo all that I can, but in all honesty the auditioning will probably be limited to the LS16MkII and an Ayre product. The BAT and the SF would have to be bought off of the audiogon, and again I would prefer to support the local guys - but I am trying to keep an open mind.

Anyhow, I would greatly appreciate any advice that one can provide; especially from those who have similar equipment.

My apologies for the verbose post!

Cheers,

Peter