what is a good match?

Davejms, what are your listening tastes and how big is your room? Also, do you like the power and drive in music? Or do you prefer a laid back sound? Or perhaps a mix of both? In any case, my personal recommendation would be Balnced Audio gear. You could try any of the current BAT preamps with their vk-500 amp. I have personal experience with these products with my N801s. Good luck!

I guess I should have also made a recommendation. I have heard the Classe CA301 sound nice with the N803s. I would listen to it with a tube preamp, like Conrad Johnson, Rogue, VTL or BAT.

Davjms. No knock on the 803s, but if you are as you say "new to the audiophile world", I hope that you have listened to a number of speakers, with different setups. Gather as much info as you can, and speak to people other than dealers. Read the forums here, and remember that they are just opinions. Many dealers will tell you that the brand they are trying to sell is great and everything else is crap. If you can't demo at home, bring the kind of music you like to the showroom. Don't just listen to the best recordings, unless you want to limit yourself to the same ten cds at home. It is easy to be impressed initially, but you will be spending a lot of time with your choices, and there are some hard lessons to learn about thing like system matching and listening fatigue. If you have any questions, email, and I would be happy to respond.

If I were you, I would definitely get a tube pre and amp.