Upgrading preamp. Best for under $1K

@ highend 64 the following quoted info is from a thread I posted on not too far back.

I have seen you have not rejected the idea of a DIY Build and after reading your description for your preferred balance of across the frequencies and produced  sonic, if I have got the interpretation correct.

As a result of having become quite familiar with this design in use, and partnered with both Tube and SS Power Amp's. I strongly suggest the Pass KB1 Pre - Amp will be quite fitting for your needs. 

Note: The KB1 has a 'version of a Tetrode Tube' which is a Korg Nutube, this part is a modern approach to a Thermionic Tube usage for a pre-amp.

Note: The KB1 is not producing a sonic with a hint of Richness it is Transparent and very revealing of the wholeness of the embedded data within a recording.

_____________________________________________________________

"There was a want to bring in a New Pre Amp, where money was not too much of a constraint for a purchase option on a New Pre Amp' for the owner of the exchanged model EAR Power Amp.

The monies available for the Pre Amp' was working towards £7K, which shares a similarity to your own situation.

A host of Pre Amp's were available for Home Demo's of which one was the EAR 868. Out of the Commercial Pre's being demo'd the EAR was the one that impressed the most.

Note: The 868 is not a Lush or Rich Toned Pre Amp, it has clarity and detail retrieval with unnoticeable smearing affecting the micro details.

Here is a curve ball, there was also at the Pre Amp Demo's, a PASS KB1 Pre Amp present, and it delivered in a manner that was not easy to overlook.

It was also commanding a cost that was very very attractive, and suggested methods to upgrade were also made known and the cost that would be needed to include these.

The EAR owner has chosen the Pass KB1 as their Pre Amp and a few other Valve Power Amp owners within the Group are also using the Pass KB1.

At present I am having a Balanced Design of the Pre Amp' produced to couple to my monoblock Power Amp's. 

A Pass KB1 can be acquired for a very respectable outlay. If it does not deliver to your preference, it will sell on and a valuable experience will have been encountered."

________________________________________________________________

As an Update, there are KB1's now in use with a few changes to the basic build, where Volume Controls and a few Cap's have been exchanged.

These versions with well known, but carefully thought out tweaks to the Circuit are standout over the earlier guises experienced. The Tweaks come in at no more that £150 if a certain value of VC is selected as the exchange part.

Your very best value is a VTA SP-13.  It has the same circuit as the SP-14, but is about half the price of the SP-14.  The SP-14 is the same thing as a Don Sachs preamp (list price at $2500), but in a plain utilitarian enclosure.  The SP-13 is $595 in kit form and $760 assembled and tested.  Get the kit.  You'll get enormous satisfaction, learn a great deal and be much more involved in your system in doing so.  Best value in audio.

https://www.tubes4hifi.com/pre11.htm#SP13

I am partial to tubes in the preamp by a large margin.

A used Audible Illusions or Melos would be very good if you can find one.

I have also bought 12 clone board sets from Aliexpress as well as helped modify several complete tube preamps from AliExpress for local audiophiles in the Las Vegas Audiophile society of which I am the admin.
 I can say with certainty that this one ARC clone is REALLY good as well as the EAR .https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801635725386.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.4b2856bacbP0UP&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805647237552.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.3.6c902d7dhWEDV2&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid=e59b8f66-042f-471d-9b0e-271629892df7&_t=gps-id:pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40050.354490.0,pvid:e59b8f66-042f-471d-9b0e-271629892df7,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238110%231995&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%21860.00%21765.4%21%21%21860.00%21%21%402101c59116955078871795873e9863%2112000034513797567%21rec%21US%21139333621%21

I would not hesitate to buy from either seller as well. The VTA SP-13 mentioned above is locally made here in Las Vegas as well but is not as good of a value and is a but "Tubey" to me but some like to add that flavor.

The Musical paradise is the best bet if you want to tweak and play with tube and coupling caps and is a good into to basic DIY mods.

If you get into DIY then the playing field opens up a lot. 

There is a lot of suggestions that the best value is to be had when a Kit Design is adopted.

The idea of this should not be off putting, I have nearly all my audio devices produced by Electronics Engineers.

If a Engineers Service is to be used, the cost per hour in the UK, is usually between £30-40.

A Pre Amp Build will come in at approx' 3-4 Hours + Testing Time.

When this method is adopted the end user can decide on any Boutique Components wanted to be used and the design for the Casing they want.

My most recent build, that is 75% complete, is to have a Panzerholz Casing produced, which is intended to be the better of material options to attain the best from the sonic. This is done commercially by a limited amount of Companies and comes on Products that command a substantial asking price.

If a commercial route is taken and a Brand is selected, the cost of the aesthetics used for Casing, can alone surpass the costings for the products components, and the casing cost will most certainly surpass the overall costs for a Third Party Service Built Kit Design.  

I wouldn’t say ’it’s easy’ to get a great preamp under a grand, however, I’ve had that challenge before and it can be a lot of fun. There’s a lot of very very good stuff, especially vintage stuff, that you can really enjoy chasing down. Make sure to get good, competitive pricing on whatever you choose so that if it doesn’t work out you can at least get your money back- or most of it, moving it along so the next guy who needs $1,000 preamp.

And if I could add, when you're dealing with that kind of budget, I myself would keep it solid state because it'll be a lot easier to get something that works right out of the box now and going forward without having to dik around with tubes, which are lovely, but it's all a crapshoot without really good tubes.