To preamp or not to preamp. That is the question.

Thanks for all the wonderful input. I am fully aware of the limitations of the DAC in the Node 2i as agd 101 pointed out. It's serviceable but not great.

On my main system my upgrade path was Node 2i , then node 2i with a Musician R2R Dac, then Lumin u1 Mini with Musician DAC. The Node was put back into service with this recent second system. 

Lordmelton pointed out several options. Since I do need more gain, option 1 and 2 are out. No doubt a good tube preamp brings much to the table and in my main system I use a Conrad Johnson LS17 line stage into some Quicksilver Monoblock Poweramps.... so I get that. However, with this second system, I want something rather less costly with a smaller form factor due to space/cosmetic considerations. Also I need a remote control. And so I will likely try something solid state, and see if it yields any improvement. There seems to be enough opinion here to support the fact that a preamp will improve things

Budget is around $1000. I don't mind buying used, prefer it in fact.

Thanks for that soix. I'll keep my eye out for something like that. Being in Canada I'd like to try to source something up here to avoid high shipping, duty, taxes etc.

@holmz 

I don't do my critical listening on this second system. It's not in my bedroom but in my living room. My critical listening is with my primary system in a dedicated room in my basement. So it, as it stands, is "good enough" but I will happily entertain an improvement if cost effective.