top 5 preamps under $1,200

TAD 150 Signature, VTL 2.5, Juicy Music Peach, Manley Shrimp

I once had an Audible Illusions Modulus 3. Sounded nice but the brand new National 6922 tubes only lasted about 200 hours. Be sure to use Russian miltary spec tubes if you get the AI preamp. I acquired my mint VTL 2.5 (no phono stage) locally for just $775. Very happy with it for money spent. The TAD 150 Signature did not have quite the same detail but very close and sounded a bit warmer with a wider sound stage versus the VTL. Seriously, if you can get a TAD for $800 or so and don't care about built in phono I'd say go for it. The line stage section is very nice. Only uses (2) 12??7 tubes so tube rolling is fairly cheap. Tube life also not a concern. Best of luck.

Another option to consider - there's an integrated amp
'Tube Audio Designs TAD-60 w/extras reduced a lot' posted on Agon for a very nice price. No phono of course plus limited inputs. To offset the limited input concerns on the integrated amp I would use a Calrad multi input to one output good quality selector box which is less than $40. I got mine from Cable and Connectors in Conn. and use it to switch between 2 turn tables feeding one phono stage. Not sure on the efficiency of your speakers but the TAD should drive most speakers out there. AND - it sounds nice, very well made, plus Paul G of Tube Audio Design is a great guy to deal with for customer support/issues. Finally the TAD will hold its value. You can resell it down the road for close to what you'd pay for it. B&K amps are nice for the money, a great value but I'm guessing you'd like the TAD better. I have no association with the seller. :)

The TAD 150s do come up for sale from time to time.
According to Paul G he only made 350 of these units.
So not too many to go around. Just a guess but I suspect VTL has more volume with the 2.5 preamps.