Preamp recomendation

I would do this a little different than the way you are going. Since you can't get a good active preamp anywhere near $1000, I would go passive. It will eliminate the problems you run into with a cheap active. You can find one well within your budget. After that, I would buy an EQ. If you are going to use tone controls, you might as well do it right. You will probably be happy with a behringer Ultracurve pro DEQ2496. These 2 pieces are well within your budget and should sound a lot better than the active unit.

Ghoeper
The lower the voltage, the harder it is to make something that sounds good. In an audio system there are several power amps besides the amp you use to drive your speakers. For example, a CD player needs to send the signal to a preamp. Inside the CD player, there is a very small power amp that is used to drive the signal through the interconnects. The amp in the CD player is basically the same thing as your big power amp but much smaller.

It is much more difficult to design the small amps in your cd and active preamp.The weaker the signal, the more sensitive it is to work with. Small changes at that level have a very big effect on sound quality.

When you use a passive unit, there is no amp inside it like an active has. It just controls volume and input selection (if you have more that one input. Because an active preamp is harder to design, it costs to make. Generally speaking, active preamps don't out preform passives until you get to around the $3000 price range. My opinion is that if you can't get a really good active preamp then don't buy one at all.

I hope this info helps you out. If you have any more questions, just post.

The GFP750 would be a very good choice. I'm pretty sure it has no tone controls. Also, if I remember correctly, it has an active line stage as well. You can switch back and fourth between active and passive. I would check, though, as I am not 100% sure.

Mitch2/ghoeper

When you say that the gfp750 is bright, I take it that you were using it active. If so, that's why I recommend a passive unit. As for the dull sound running it passive, that's not always the case. The better the component, the better the output stage (usually). It's up to the amp in the source component to power the signal all the way to the amp. Your Cambridge 840 is a very well made CD player. Using that for your source, I can't see how you can go wrong with a passive. Also, you don't have to limit yourself to Adcom. The 750 is excellent but there are other companies that make passive preamps at a very reasonable prices, as well. I have used passives from Creek and Channel Islands with excellent results. I do prefer the Creek but both are great.