I own VAC equipment (the Renaissance 140/140 300B monoblocks) and did hear the Standard preamp, finding it to be nothing special. The circumstances were my friend's attempt to find a very high end preamp -- he tried three or four preamps and bought a CAT Mk. III, which clearly sounded superior (which is to be expected given the CAT was twice the price of the VAC).
VAC's Renaissance preamps, along with the "Phi" preamp, are VAC's premium preamps and they are among the very finest tube preamps available, but are of course very expensive. Good deals can be had on them used.
As you specifically intend to use a balanced source component, I would consider the Audio Research LS-5 (+/- $3,000 used), the Rowland Coherence II (+/- $6,000 used) or Audio Research Reference 3 (hard to find used and about $9,000 if purchased new). All offer supurb sound for the money (in fact, Mr. Johnson could have retired after building the LS-5, as it is pretty hard to justify more preamp in my opinion).
VAC's Renaissance preamps, along with the "Phi" preamp, are VAC's premium preamps and they are among the very finest tube preamps available, but are of course very expensive. Good deals can be had on them used.
As you specifically intend to use a balanced source component, I would consider the Audio Research LS-5 (+/- $3,000 used), the Rowland Coherence II (+/- $6,000 used) or Audio Research Reference 3 (hard to find used and about $9,000 if purchased new). All offer supurb sound for the money (in fact, Mr. Johnson could have retired after building the LS-5, as it is pretty hard to justify more preamp in my opinion).